Editor,
I am writing in response to student Arun Anand Ahuja’s letter, published Friday. I’m not sure if he truly looked at this case closely before calling it a misapplication of justice.
Here are my reasons why:
First, Tyler Clementi’s suicide was absolutely not allowed to be brought up because Dharun Ravi was not being charged with involuntary manslaughter. Yes, it is a tragic incident, but Clementi jumped off the George Washington bridge because he was publicly humiliated by his roommate because of his choice of lifestyle.
Second, if Ravi was scared for his belongings because Clementi brought in a “sketchy, scruffy, homeless looking” person, Ravi had every right to refuse to leave his shared room. He chose to leave. He chose to turn the webcam on. He chose to go to another student’s dorm and watch the video.
Third, while in a female student’s dorm and watching the webcam he set up, he tweeted a play-by-play of what was happening and what his roommate was doing. The video he made also went viral and was sent to students at Rutgers University.
This is a form of cyber bullying. This is why Ravi was prosecuted. Clementi was humiliated and also just came out to his parents a few days before that he was gay. It is also stated that Ravi was beyond uncomfortable with having a gay roommate.
If Ravi’s case was about stereotyping against the Indian community, this student has it all wrong and had nothing to do with his race. The female roommate also testified against Ravi, describing his actions and what he was doing. This was not a first-time incident for Ravi. If he was so fearful of his belongings being stolen, why tweet and let the video go viral of what his roommate was doing?
Yes this is absolutely an invasion of privacy. Clementi was being filmed without his consent. His video went live and sent on the Internet for other people to watch without his consent. Yes, committing suicide is a choice, but it’s a horrible situation.
However, when someone has been bullied in any way and commits suicide, it is called bully-cide. Ravi’s “joke,” as Ahuja stated, went too far. A college student should be grown enough to know the difference between right and wrong. He’s an adult. His actions led to consequences. This was not a witch hunt.
What Ravi did was wrong and inexcusable. Cyber bullying should not be tolerated and everyone is entitled to having their own privacy behind bedroom doors. This case is about respect, not going after Indian immigrants.
I wish Ahuja took a closer look at this case and the evidence behind it before stating this case is about hate crimes and that Ravi is a victim. Both parties are victims. Clementi took his life due to the humiliation and Ravi will be locked away in jail. Both sets of parents have lost their sons because of this situation.
Justice has been served and what Ravi did should not be tolerated.
It wouldn’t matter if he was black, white, Indian, Hispanic, whatever: bullying is bullying.
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Kathy Davis
UNM student
