HACKTIVIST group Anonymous has threatened to expose the identities of four boys who allegedly gang raped Canadian teenager Rehtaeh Parsons. The 17-year-old later killed herself after photographs of the assault were shared around her school.
The Parsons family claim her suicide was the result of two years of bullying following the attack at a friend's house party in November 2011. Her mother Leah Parsons said the teenager hanged herself after images of the assault were circulated and some classmates labelled her a "slut", the Toronto Sun reports.
Police did not arrest anyone at the time of incident, citing a lack of evidence. Rehtaeh’s father Glen Canning said his daughter was "disappointed to death" rather than "bullied to death" because of the failure of the police and her school to act.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
"What were they looking for if photos and bragging weren’t enough?" he asked in an emotional blog post about his late daughter.
Now, Anonymous has said they know the identity of two of Parsons's attackers. The group have demanded police in Nova Scotia, the Canadian province where the teen lived and died, take action. In a statement released late last night, it said: "What we want is justice. And that’s your job. So do it."
Nova Scotia's Justice Minister Ross Landry later hit back at the online collective, saying: "We don’t want another child taking their life because some vigilante group thinks it’s OK. Maybe it’s a wrong name - then what would they do to someone?"
Landry is considering a review of how the case was handled in the wake of outrage over Parsons's suicide, according to Canada’s National Post.
In 2012 Anonymous publicly identified the man who allegedly drove 15-year-old Canadian teen Amanda Todd to suicide after years of cyber-bullying. Todd’s mother said she had written to Leah Parsons expressing her sympathy.
