Charges Over Webcam Sex Tape Suicide
4:46pm Friday October 01, 2010
Jo Couzens
Two students have been charged after a teenager jumped to his death when footage of him kissing a man was broadcast on the internet.
Tyler Clementi told pals he was going to jump from a bridge
Tyler Clementi, 18, in his first year at Rutgers University in New Jersey, leapt from a bridge in New York after being spied on and filmed during a supposedly private sexual encounter. His roommate Dharun Ravi and fellow student Molly Wei, both 18, have been charged with invasion of privacy.
Their film was allegedly broadcast live from a webcam and then shared on the iChat network. Ravi also allegedly used Twitter to promote the footage. "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay," Ravi tweeted, according to the New York Post.
Three days later, on September 22, Mr Clementi posted on his Facebook page: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry." That evening he jumped off the George Washington Bridge, which connects New York City to New Jersey, into the Hudson River. Anti-bullying campaigner Jowharah Sanders said Mr Clementi was one of at least four teenagers who committed suicide in the US last month after gay-related harassment
The others were a 15-year-old who hanged himself in Indiana, a 13-year-old who shot himself in Texas, and another 13-year-old who died in hospital in California days after hanging himself. "It's got to stop," said Mr Sanders, president of National Voices for Equality, Education and Enlightenment. "It is turning more and more deadly. More children are dying and we're speaking up about it."
Cyberbullying in general is a growing phenomenon in an era when most students have mobile phones with cameras and regularly use social networking sites. "Kids have been bullying each other for generations. The latest generation, however, has been able to utilise technology to expand their reach and the extent of their harm," a research paper on www.cyberbullying.us said.
A Facebook page set up as a memorial to Mr Clementi has attracted thousands of followers, while hundreds visited another page urging Rutgers students to wear black on Friday in his memory. "We must fight this once and for all... hate Crimes, bullying, stalking, invasion of privacy and the pain of having your personal life shattered because of your sexual orientation," the Tyler Clementi Memorial Facebook page said.
