Gay student’s parents may sue Rutgers University

WASHINGTON - The parents of a Rutgers University student, who committed suicide after his Indian-origin roommate allegedly broadcast online his sexual encounter with another man, have filed notice that they may sue the varsity, a media report said Thursday.

Tyler Clementi jumped from the George Washington Bridge after his roommate Dharun Ravi and another student of the university in New Jersey allegedly used a web camera to capture a sexual encounter between him and another man and streamed it online.

Jane and Joseph Clementi said the school should have done more to prevent the death of their son, Tyler, CNN reported.

They notified the university that they were filing a “notice of claim”, meant to uphold their right to bring a lawsuit in the coming months, Rutgers spokesman E.J. Miranda said Wednesday.

“Subject to further investigation, it appears that Rutgers University failed to act, failed to put in place and/or failed to implement, and enforce policies and practices that would have prevented or deterred such acts, and that Rutgers failed to act timely and appropriately,” the notice said.

Responding to the notice, the university said that while it shares “the family’s sense of loss of their son, who was a member of our community”, it is not responsible for his suicide.

The body of Tyler, 18, was recovered from the Hudson river in September, more than a week after he jumped from the bridge, which spans the Hudson river separating New York from New Jersey.

Ravi, 18, and Molly Wei, 18, have been charged with invasion of privacy.