Gay student caught on webcam ends life

Sept. 30: Two undergraduates at a US university have been arrested after a fellow student they allegedly filmed and broadcast over the Internet during a gay encounter killed himself by jumping into the Hudson river.

The tragedy appeared to be the latest in a growing trend of sophisticated technology and social networking sites being used to give old-fashioned bullying a vicious new twist.

Rutgers University in New Jersey said the dead man, first year student Tyler Clementi, 18, appeared to have been the victim of actions that “gravely violate the university’s standards of decency and humanity.” Two Rutgers students “have been arrested and charged with invasion of privacy for their actions,” the university’s president, Mr Richard McCormick, said in a statement.

According to US news reports, Clementi, a talented violinist, was secretly filmed by his roommate, Mr Dharun Ravi, while kissing another man. The film was allegedly broadcast live from a webcam, then shared on the iChat network.

Mr Ravi also allegedly used Twitter to advertise the sordid spying. “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into Molly’s room and turned on my Web cam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay,” Mr Ravi tweeted, according to the New York Post.

Fellow first-year student, Ms Molly Wei, was the other student arrested in the incident. Three days later, on September 22, Clementi posted on his Facebook page: “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry.” That same evening he jumped off the soaring George Washington Bridge, which connects New York City to New Jersey, and into the Hudson.

Cyberbullying is a growing phenomenon in an era when even very young students ages carry cellphone cameras and regularly use social networking systems. “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 [1] says.

Meanwhile, a Facebook page set up as a memorial to Clementi quickly attracted thousands of followers.