Online smear campaign against girl blamed for nude photo that ended in teen's suicide
A 15-year-old girl believed to have posted a nude photo of Enschede teen Onur Cucu online, is now facing an online smear campaign against herself. Onur committed suicide on Sunday after discovering the photo. Numerous people is holding the girl responsible for his death, AD reports.
Immediately after Onur's death, his friends and girlfriend pointed to the 15-year-old girl as the one who posted the photo. According to AD, the girl is a former classmate of Onur at Bonhoeffer College in Enschede. She left the pre-vocational school. Last year she was entrusted to youth care guidance after a few years of difficult circumstances, according to the newspaper. She no longer lives in Enschede. The school will not confirm or deny these reports.
Many strangers and acquaintances posted about Onur's death on the girl's Facebook profile. The vast majority of the posts blame the girl for Onur's death. There were dozens of comments in the tone of "what went on in your head" and "this girl is so fucked in the head". Only one boy seemed to stand up for the girl. "If you continue to hate and curse the girl like this, then she will soon be the next suicide", the boy wrote.
Elsewhere on the internet there were more posts along the same hateful lines, sometimes calling the girl by name and surname.
The girl herself never responded to any of the posts, according to the newspaper. Her Facebook profile was removed around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The hate messages went with it.
Experts stress that the girl's age should be taken into account - at 15 years old she may not have realized the consequences of her actions. The Public Prosecutor, who will ultimately decide whether a criminal investigation will be launched, also stresses that personal circumstances should be taken into account, according to the newspaper. "The conclusion could be that there are only victims, therefore also the one who posted the photo. The question is what steps are appropriate", a spokesperson for the Prosecutor said to the newspaper.
