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SUICIDE

Girl’s suicide prompts cyberbullying probe

Police are investigating whether a 13-year-old girl who died after being hit by a train in central Sweden last week may have committed suicide after being bullied online.

Girl's suicide prompts cyberbullying probe

Last Friday, the girl died after stepping in front a passing train near Kumla, 15 kilometres south of Örebro.

Police began to suspect the teen’s death was a suicide after learning she had been subjected to cyberbullying.

“This girl had been filmed and photographed and the images were posted on the internet, or there were threats that they would be,” Örebro police spokesman Mats Nylén told Svergies Television (SVT).

According to SVT, police suspect a boy over the age of 15 may have been responsible for the online bullying.

Sexual harassment, making illegal threats, and illegal coercion are among the possible crimes with which the boy could be charged.

While police are aware of at least one other girl who was victimized by the same suspect, they believe he may have bullied several other young people as well and are considering going public with his online alias in hopes that more victims will come forward.

“There may be more involved, but perpetrators and victims,” Nylén told the local Nerikes Allehanda (NA) newspaper.

Police continue to look through the girl’s computer to trace comments, IP-addresses, and film clips in an attempt to piece together who may have been behind the harassment.

The 13-year-old girl spoke about the prolonged bullying she endured in a video clip that she posted online earlier in the winter, the Expressen newspaper reported.

In the clip, the girl explains that she was called “fat” and “disturbed” and that her family had also been targeted in hateful comments.

At the end of the sequence, the 13-year-old refers to another comment posted online that she found harsher than others:

“So ugly. Go kill yourself.”

A crisis group has been set up at the girl’s school and counselors are on hand to help her classmates deal with the loss.

“Now all of us in the community must reflect on what more we can do to help young people away from this,” Mait Walderlo of the municipality’s child and education department, told Expressen.

TT/The Local/dl

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SEXISM

Bild editor steps down over allegations of affairs with employees

The editor-in-chief of German newspaper Bild is stepping down temporarily while he is investigated over several complaints made by women, publisher Axel Springer group said on Saturday.

Bild editor steps down over allegations of affairs with employees
Bild editor Julian Reichelt at the Bild newspaper's 'Sommerfest' party in 2018. Photo: picture alliance / Jörg Carstensen/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

Julian Reichelt had “asked the board of directors to be temporarily relieved of his duties until the allegations have been clarified”, the group said in a statement. The complaints prompted the company to launch an internal investigation led by lawyers.

Reichelt is suspected of having promoted interns with whom he had affairs and then sidelining or firing them, the Spiegel newspaper reported. Members of staff came forward months ago but Spiegel said management had been slow to look into the allegations.

However, the publisher defended itself in its statement: “As a matter of  principle Axel Springer always has to distinguish between rumors, indications and clear evidence.”

It said the firm would take action when there was clear evidence, adding: “Currently, there is no such clear evidence. Prejudgments based on rumors are unacceptable for the Axel Springer corporate culture.”

Reichelt denies the claims, the group said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.

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