New York, February 23,2012: A New Jersey judge overseeing the case of a former Indian-origin Rutgers student Dharun Ravi, who has been accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate’s intimate encounter with another man, has asked lawyers to present opening statements today, even as jury selection was being completed for the trial. The case sparked an outcry on bullying of young gays after his roommate committed suicide in September 2010.
If convicted, he would stand to face 10 or more years in prison. The case against Dharun Ravi, 19, a former student of Rutgers, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, garnered worldwide attention after the roommate, Tyler Clementi, 18, committed suicide a few days after the alleged spying took place. Ravi was indicted on the 15 charges in April. Authorities say the case began in early August 2010, when Ravi learned that he’d be rooming with Clementi in his first year at Rutgers. Soon after that, he posted a message on his Twitter account: “Found out my roommate is gay,” and linked to a thread that Clementi is believed to have posted on a gay community chat room. Then on Sep 19, 2010, according to Twitter archives stored by Google, he tweeted again: “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.” Authorities say that was the night Ravi used the webcam to spy on his roommate – and that he tried to do it again two nights later.
Clementi, an aspiring violinist, killed himself Sep 22 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after learning of the online video stream of his homosexual encounter, authorities said.
If convicted, he would stand to face 10 or more years in prison. The case against Dharun Ravi, 19, a former student of Rutgers, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, garnered worldwide attention after the roommate, Tyler Clementi, 18, committed suicide a few days after the alleged spying took place. Ravi was indicted on the 15 charges in April. Authorities say the case began in early August 2010, when Ravi learned that he’d be rooming with Clementi in his first year at Rutgers. Soon after that, he posted a message on his Twitter account: “Found out my roommate is gay,” and linked to a thread that Clementi is believed to have posted on a gay community chat room. Then on Sep 19, 2010, according to Twitter archives stored by Google, he tweeted again: “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.” Authorities say that was the night Ravi used the webcam to spy on his roommate – and that he tried to do it again two nights later. Clementi, an aspiring violinist, killed himself Sep 22 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after learning of the online video stream of his homosexual encounter, authorities said.