The arrest of Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, New Jersey, after the suicide of his roommate at Rutgers University in NJ has shocked the Indian community.
Tyler Clementi, 18, of Ridgewood, a freshman at Rutgers, appears to have killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge last week. His family, in a statement, confirmed that it was a suicide and said his body had not been found.
Ravi and another student, Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton University, NJ, have been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for secretly placing a camera in the dormitory room and transmitting a sexual encounter on the Internet on September 19, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J Kaplan and Rutgers University Police Chief Rhonda Harris announced.
Ravi is charged with two additional counts of invasion of privacy for attempting to use the camera to view and transmit another encounter involving the same student on September 21.
Prosecutors said Ravi and Wei set up a camera on September 19. Wei was released in her own recognizance after surrendering to the Rutgers Police on September 27. Ravi surrendered the next day and was released on $25,000 bail.
Under New Jersey's invasion-of-privacy statutes, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person's consent, and it is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute such images. The penalty for conviction of a third degree offense can include a prison term of up to five years.
Ravi and Wei were classmates at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North before enrolling at Rutgers this fall, according to Star Ledger.
Reports appearing in the media, including the New York Times, said the suicide is connected to the live broadcast of sexual act.
Ravi's Twitter post at 6.17 pm on September 19 said, "Roommate 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."
Two days later, he posted another entry directing his Twitter followers to iChat: 'Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again.'
"Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all," a statement from the Clementi family said.
Clementi was a violinist, who had received a college scholarship from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra.
