Suicide after the TV report, the Hyenas: "Catfishing is a very serious phenomenon, we had to deal with it"

"A tragedy within a tragedy that not only does not leave us indifferent, but has affected us all".

The show Le Iene replies on the case of Roberto , the 64-year-old who committed suicide after the media pillory following a report from the Mediaset program on a case of "catfishing", replacement of a person on social networks, of which he had become the protagonist. For a year the man had pretended to be Irene and had made Daniele, 24 years old, fall in love with this "girl" without ever meeting her. When Daniel discovered the truth, he took his own life.

The Hyenas, with Matteo Viviani , had dealt with the case by collecting the complaint from the parents of the deceived young man. So they had chased Roberto: in the report that aired, the 64-year-old was seen running away, vaguely talking about a joke, while dragging his frightened mother into a wheelchair. The man, even with his face darkened, was recognized for his size and tattoos in the small Forlimpopoli and targeted by violent attacks, even with posters attached to the city. On Sunday he took his own life by voluntarily ingesting a mix of drugs .

“Before telling this dramatic story - Matteo Viviani said in the broadcast broadcast yesterday - we told others, very similar, but which fortunately did not have the same epilogue. 'Catfishing' is a much broader and more dangerous phenomenon than one can imagine and the victims are always the weakest subjects, those who should be better protected. And the question is: are we experiencing a regulatory vacuum around this problem? Do we have the tools to protect the people most at risk? In our legal system the crime of substitution is foreseen, but are we sure that it is sufficient? In the meantime, we learn from the press that the Forlì prosecutor has opened an investigation against unknown persons on Roberto's death. We will certainly continue to deal with 'catfishing', because learning about the problem is the first step to avoiding it ".

The prosecutor has in fact decided to open a file for instigating suicide . On the case of Daniele, on the other hand, there had already been an epilogue: a decree of criminal conviction, with a fine of 825 euros, for replacement of the person, while the filing was requested for the accusation of death as a consequence of another crime because, according to the prosecutors from Forlì, a causal link between the young man's death and the man's behavior had not been recognized . It was precisely in opposing the filing that Daniele's family members turned to the hyenas.

(Unioneonline / D)