Girl, 14, jumps to her death after cyberbullies told her to “kill yourself”

Schoolgirl Aurora Cerullo, 14, was found lying next to her family’s apartment building in Venaria, near Turin, on Monday morning.

She is believed to have leapt from the window of their sixth-floor apartment after being trolled by cyberbullies on askfm.

In the weeks leading up to the tragedy, Aurora had been tormented by abusive messages on the anonymous question and answer site.

One cruel comment said: "Kill yourself. You’re a dog."

Another said: "You are so ugly. How old are you- you look about 10."

Two days before she died Aurora was asked by one user of the site what her state of mind was.

In response she posted a horrifying picture of a young girl self-harming. Above was the caption: ‘Are you OK?- yes’.

The day before she died the pretty 14-year-old wrote on the web: "There is no tomorrow."

it is not the first time askfm has been linked to cyberbullies and teen suicide; the apparent suicide follows the death of British school girl Hannah Smith, who was also feared to have suffered from “ trolls“ on the askfm web.

Following Hannah's suicide, askfm introduced a "bullying / harassment" button and promised to investigate reports of bullying and abusive behaviour within 24 hours.

However many critics feel that all anonymous posts should be banned. But it isnt just askfm which is the problem.

TV presenter Charlotte Dawson, 47, was found dead at her home in Sydney in February, tragically becoming the "first celebrity victim of Twitter trolling".

At what point did it become okay for us to devote our time to identifying the weaknesses of total strangers? Why have we deemed it as 'normal' to viciously attack people on Twitter until they are left feeling utterly, utterly worthless?

Many might defend themselves, saying "it's just a tweet". And many have suggested that people should just delete their Twitter accounts and not let the bullies get to them - but why should the victims be punished for the bully's crime? That is as foolish a suggestion as those who say women should not wear short skirts in a bid to deter rapists - it is NOT the women who are at fault. The simple solution is that rapists should NOT rape. And, in this case, bullies should NOT bully.

More needs to be done to punish online bullying. Abuse is abuse, whether it takes place in the virtual or actual world, and action needs to be taken.

Will you be taking a stance against online bullying?