Tyler Clementi Tyler Clementi was a first year student at Rutgers University in
New Jersey
A New Jersey college student has leapt to his death a day after authorities
said two students secretly filmed him having sex with a man and broadcast it
over the internet.
Tyler Clementi's wallet was found on the George Washington Bridge on 22
September after two witnesses saw someone jump from the structure, authorities
told the AP news agency.
Mr Clementi's body has been found.
Two students have been charged with illegally filming the 18-year-old.
"Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is
heartbroken beyond words," Paul Mainardi, a lawyer for Mr Clementi's family,
said in a statement confirming the suicide.
The teenage violinist's body was identified on Thursday after his body was
found in the Hudson River a day earlier.
Room-mate charged
Analysis
Iain Mackenzie BBC News, Washington
The tragic death of Tyler Clementi brings together two contentious issues - gay
rights and cyber bullying.
Technology certainly seems to have played a role in driving the teenager to
kill himself. However, equality campaigners say the real problem is a culture
where young homosexuals feel persecuted and marginalised.
A recent study of gay students suggests one in four is regularly harassed
because of their sexual orientation.
For some, Tyler Clementi's suicide has put a human face to that statistic.
The footage was allegedly taken using a web camera in Mr Clementi's dorm room
at Rutgers University and broadcast live over the internet.
The two charged with filming and broadcasting the images are Mr Clementi's
room-mate, Dharun Ravi, and Molly Wei.
If convicted, the two students face up to five years in prison.
An account belonging to Mr Ravi on the microblogging website Twitter has
recently been deleted. But in a recovered snapshot of the account obtained from
Google, Mr Ravi wrote about an experience involving his room-mate.
"Room-mate 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," Mr Ravi wrote on
Twitter on 19 September.
Two days later Mr Ravi wrote: "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me
between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again."
Gay rights organisations say Mr Clementi's suicide is an example of a
nationwide problem - young people killing themselves after being bullied over
their sexuality.