Megan Taylor
Meier was a vulnerable child diagnosed with an attention deficit disorder and depression,
and had self-esteem issues regarding her weight. At the age of fourteen she
took her own life after falling victim to an online hoax set-up up by two adult
neighbors, the mother of her friend and her temporary employee, in retribution
for her allegedly spreading gossip about her daughter.
They set-up an
fictitious account of a 16-year-old male
named "Josh Evans" who built
up an online relationship with Megan, that help here lift her spirits. Megan
was driven to suicide by a series of messages designed to end the hoax. In the
last few days, the tone of the messages changed. "Josh" stated in a
message sent to Megan: "I don't know if I want to be friends with you
anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends" and
"Everybody in O'Fallon knows who you are. You are a bad person and
everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a
better place without you." Meier responded saying, "You’re the kind
of boy a girl would kill herself over" and hanged herself shortly after.
The adults who
created the fake account and engineered the emotional harassment, thought it
was a “joke” and did not foresee any serious consequences.
Although Megan
passed away in 2006, I chose to recall this episode because the latest
statistics (2012) released by the Indian crime bureau showed that 16% of all
cases of online crimes were committed by neighbors who eve teased, settled
scores, took revenge or were jealous. In India neighbors are aware of each others personal secrets making it easy to denigrate,
defame, or harass victims among their friends and community.
It is a shameful
yet sad reality that some take sadistic pleasure in online torture. The neighbor
you confide too may in reality be the perpetrator of the online harassment.
Read Also: Top
Motives for Cyber Crime in India and Cyber
bullying, Parent need to prepare themselves
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