A teen from New Jersey took her own life after a video circulated online showing her being beaten up by bullies at her school. The alarming video of Adriana Kuch, 14, has gained criticism as passers-by didn’t intervene. The school has also been slated by the teen’s dad for its lack of response to the viral beating.
The 14-year-old, who attended Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, was found dead at her home two days after the horrific assault on February 1, police said.
In the 20-second video, a group of teenagers are seen hitting Adriana with a water bottle as she walks in the school’s corridor with her boyfriend.
She lay in the fetal position as the teens pulled her hair and punched and kicked her.
One of the attackers yells: “That’s what you get you stupid a** b****”, in the video.
Others are standing around, some were laughing and recording the vicious assault.
Adriana’s dad, Michael Kuch, said: “They think it’s fun to attack people and take videos and post them.
“Getting hit with a water bottle didn’t hurt Adriana, what hurt her was the embarrassment and humiliation, they just kept coming at her.
“My daughter actually blacks out and they don’t call an ambulance, they take her to the nurse’s office,” he told ABC 7.
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Her attackers – three young girls – have been charged with third-degree felony assault and another was charged with disorderly conduct, News 12 New Jersey reported.
All of the teens have also been suspended from school.
But her family are now seeking justice from the school district, which they claimed acted insufficiently to the viral beating.
Triantafillos Parlapanides, the school’s headteacher, told the local news outlet that the police were not called because of school policy.
He said: “I don’t believe a police report was done. We normally just suspend. If a parent wants to press charges, they can with the police. We’re not going to double-whammy a kid where they are suspended and then police charges as well.”
But Adriana’s mum said she was outraged with the school’s response, telling NBC New York: “A kid is assaulted with a weapon and their policy is not to call the police or file a report.”
On Facebook, he posted photos of the attack, writing: “These four girls planned and executed an attack. If you watch the videos I have, they are laughing while talking about what they are going to do,” adding that he “had to take my daughter covered in blood to the local police station.”
He said: “If the school contacted the police and filed a report and conducted an investigation, these videos could have been discovered immediately. I want the entire world to know what these animals did to my daughter. I will not sleep until their family has to watch them stand in front of a judge and plead guilty.”
If you or a loved one needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Line at 1-800-273-8255
