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Thursday, May 21, 2020

Murder by cyberbullying or dodgy social values?


FMT:

Tragic end to woman bullied online for ‘dating’ foreigner


Thivyaanayagi Rajendran in happier times

(Pic supplied by family)
 


BUKIT MERTAJAM: A 20-year-old woman is believed to have hanged herself on Tuesday after a TikTok video of her and a colleague became the subject of ridicule on a Facebook page.

Thivyaanayagi Rajendran, 20, said in an alleged suicide note she was taking her life because she had been attacked for “dating” a Bangladeshi colleague who worked with her as a cashier at a 7-Eleven store at Auto City in Juru here.

According to her family, this dating assumption came from a video which showed her with a foreign worker, who was trying to act out a scene from a Hindi song. The video was filmed while both of them appeared to be sitting behind the cashier counter.

The video posted by her colleague was later reposted by a Facebook user named “Joker Oruvan” with a caption reading, in romanised Tamil: “How did this girl fall in love with a Bangla … everyone would surely bless you.”

Thivyaanayagi’s uncle, K Sathyaseelan, said the post, which had gone on to attack her, attracted more than 300 comments, mostly jeering Thivyaanayagi for dating a foreigner.

The post has since been taken down.

Sathyaseelan said his niece was disturbed by the comments and she lodged a police report on May 19. He said police told them the matter would be referred to the cyber crime unit.

“But the page was still there that day and the comments were pouring in. We told the police to put a stop to it. We then sent a message to the admin of the page, asking them to take down the video.

“The admin told us to record a ‘sorry’ video if she wanted the video brought down. We don’t know sorry for what. They were rude when we told them to pull down the post,” Sathyaseelan told FMT.

He said that after the exchange, Thivyaanayagi went to her room at about 8pm. When she did not answer her phone calls, her brother Taran broke into her room to find her hanged with a dupatta (piece of cloth worn over the shoulder) around her neck at 9.30pm. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Doctors conducting a post-mortem at the Seberang Jaya Hospital told her lorry driver brother, aged 25, that she died of asphyxia and a broken neck. Thivyaanayagi was cremated yesterday.

Sathyaseelan said Thivyaanayagi had left a suicide note in which she apologised for being part of the video which had brought “shame” to her family.

“The reason I am taking this decision is because Joker Oruvan put my video on Facebook and spoiled my name and family name,” part of the note written in English read.

Sathyaseelan said his niece was engaged to her boyfriend of three years and they were planning to marry in December. He said she would have turned 21 in July.

“We want justice. She was only 20. Those who put up the post to make fun of her should be jailed. It is because of their attacks that she took her own life,” he said.

Seberang Perai city councillor P David Marshel, who first attended to the matter, said the issue was part of the bigger cyberbullying culture which had been often overlooked.

He said the government must act swiftly as there could be other cases of bullying that had gone undetected.

Central Seberang Perai Tengah district police chief Shafee Abd Samad said the case has been classified as sudden death.






5 comments:

  1. Has anyone actually bothered to check on any history of mental illness or instability ?
    Many cases of suicides are not really anybody's fault, more of inability or lack of awareness to get medical treatment for what is really a mental health issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. she could have some mental health issues, and if she had them, then are you saying the cyber-bullying based on some questionable racist social values did not push her beyond the brink?

      Delete
  2. Bullying?

    KT was Quick As A Fiddle to quote Hot Shot Lawyer Shafee when he mocked Guanee over his acquittal, but when Shafee publicly publicly bullied a judge presiding in Jibby's trial KT avoids reporting it....

    QUOTE
    UMNO Crooks Celebrate - Najib Hotshot Lawyer Shafee Has Begun Threatening and Bullying High Court Judge

    May 21, 2020

    .....Yes, the good old days of UMNO are finally here. But the corrupt UMNO politicians are not the only one celebrating. UMNO lawyers like Shafee Abdullah is smiling from ear to ear too. Previously, under the Pakatan Harapan government, the hotshot lawyer of Najib had pulled out many cheap tricks, including getting injured by his guard dogs, just so he could delay the trial of his client.

    Shafee no longer needs to be cautious and pretentious whenever he needs to delay Najib’s 1MDB trial. Muhyiddin’s treachery and betrayal also mean the UMNO corrupt attorney is once again untouchable. Emboldened by the failure of lame A.G. Idrus Harun to uphold rule of law, Mr. Shafee has today tried to test how far he can push the limit of the High Court.

    Apparently, the disgraced Shafee Abdullah, who himself had been arrested and charged with money laundering and tax evasion during the previous Pakatan Harapan government, has engaged in a heated and prolonged argument with Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah over the number of lawyers that can be allowed into the courtroom.

    Hotshot lawyer Shafee, who is defending Najib’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB trial, demanded more lawyers of his defence team be granted permission inside the court for him to discharge his duties effectively, while Judge Sequerah insisted that precaution against Coronavirus pandemic must be complied seriously as human lives must be protected at whatever cost.

    Social distancing protocols and rules in the court say only three lawyers and three prosecutors are allowed to sit in front. However, Shafee was not impressed because without his team of 11 lawyers in the room, he appears crippled and malfunctioned.

    Mr Shafee’s argument that he needed more lawyers, preferably the full force of 11 lawyers, to argue his case effectively suggests that he was not such a hotshot lawyer after all. He needed a huge team to impress – even intimidate – both prosecutor as well as the judge to win his case. Despite the argument lasted 15 minutes, Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah had refused to give in.

    ....To prevent the spread of Coronavirus, only 3 lawyers are allowed in at any one time during the trial.

    Not only was Shafee throwing tantrums for not given his candies, he also appeared to threaten the High Court Judge. When it was clear that the judge refused to entertain his request, the lead defence counsel threatened to quit – “I cannot function like this. I have not spoken to my client. I may need to discharge myself. I look like a fool when I try to check documents.”

    Annoyed with the strict social distancing protocols enforced by Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, Najib’s hotshot lawyer had also suggested to the judge that the trial be postponed as he could not function under the current circumstances. Shafee argued that to ensure a fair trial and safety of human life, the best option is not to proceed with Najib’s trial.

    Ah, so the real intention is to delay the trial again. As far as crooks like Najib and his lawyer Shafee are concerned, if the trial can be postponed until the next general election in 2023, Najib’s chances of walking away a free man is as good as 100%. With a tough nut to crack like Judge Sequerah, it will not be a smooth sailing.

    Still, that does not prevent the UMNO despicable lawyer from openly threatening and bullying the High Court Judge, something that he would consider twice under the previous Pakatan Harapan government. The next step is to harass and intimidate the Chief Justice’s office, where Shafee will write to demand for an exemption for more lawyers.
    UNQUOTE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. wakakaka, you're so full of opinions I wonder why you haven't started your own blog, then you needn't harass me to blog on this and that, and don't blog on that or this, wakakaka

      Delete
    2. We here didn't get the impression that any of us EVER ask KT to 'blog on this and that' la...

      You have taken it out of context !

      Delete