Page 43 - Cyber Safety C-7

A university staff member also posted comments about her family’s religion, which caused even
more trouble. Feeling targeted and upset, Rashmi stepped down from her position. The police
and the university later began an investigation into the online bullying and harassment she faced.

(Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/uk-police-and-oxford-
university-open-investigation-into-bullying-of-indian-student/articleshow/81641786.cms)

3. Kolkata girl ends life after Facebook harassment and fake profile incident (2014)

A 17-year-old girl from Kolkata lost her life after facing serious bullying on Facebook. A boy she
knew created a fake account using morphed photos and posted them online to embarrass
her. Soon, many people started calling her and sending hurtful messages, which made her feel

scared and stressed. Unable to cope with the constant harassment, she took her own life. The
harassment was intense enough that she left behind a suicide note accusing the harassers.
The boy and two others involved have now been arrested by the police for their actions.

(Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/girl-kills-self-over-facebook-
harassment/articleshow/37211521.cms)

In 2024, there were 66,854 reported cases of cyberbullying in Uttar Pradesh, which means roughly
one case every eight minutes. Many of the victims were young people and teenagers.

DIFFERENT FORMS OF CYBERBULLYING

Cyberbullying takes various forms, utilizing digital platforms to intentionally harass, humiliate or
harm a victim. The common types of cyberbullying include:

Exclusion
Intentionally and maliciously leaving someone out of an online group, conversation or game to

isolate them.
Let’s understand this with the help of the given scenario:

Ankush joined a new school and looked forward to making
friends. His classmates created a WhatsApp group for class
activities but added everyone except him on purpose.

They continued sharing homework and planning video calls
in the group while he was left out. Ankush felt sad and lonely
because he could not take part in anything and did not know
why he was being ignored. His teacher later noticed the change, spoke to the class and helped

them understand that leaving someone out online is also a form of cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying—Recognising and Responding 41