UK: Schoolboy, 16, found dead after false rape rumour circulates

Submitted by Mastodon on Wed, 2013-12-04 19:00

Story here. Excerpt:

'Tom Acton, 16, died in hospital three days after being found in a critical condition in his bedroom having self harmed with a blade just days before he was due to testify at the trial of one of his tormentors.

The rumour began circulating in the local area and on Facebook and resulted in mobs of angry youths targeting him in the street and turning up at the family's front door saying they wanted to kill him and "get rid of the vermin."

Tom, from Poynton, Cheshire went to live with his grandmother temporarily but after he returned was beaten up and grabbed by a teenager who shouted at him: "Apparently you strapped someone to a tree and raped them and took pictures. You are dead."
...
He described the bullying campaign mounted by one of Greenwood's friends saying: "He started rumours that I'd raped girls. It boils down to the fact that I got on better with girls and he didn't like it.

"There were rumours that I had tied a girl to a tree, raped her and took pictures. As you can imagine I can no longer walk down the street as everyone calls me a rapist.'

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Comments

Could be any male, really. But for the grace of [God (by whatever name)/Fate/Karma/Luck], there goes your son, husband, brother, friend, cousin, or yourself.

Presumed guilty: in society, in court. A mere accusation is all it takes. And still, some deny any need for a men's rights movement.

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Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2013-12-04 20:32

Since the rape laws require no evidence, any man can be accused without a shred of evidence. And if some man does something you don't like you can get back at them by using this handy weapon. In this case it seems the young man offended the local drug lords. This handy weapon was used against Julian Assange too. It's time we required rape accusations to be substantiated by credible evidence, like any other accusations. Let's have no more pussy passes for women, as manifest in unreasonably lenient proof standards in rape laws.

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Submitted by redwoodwriter on Wed, 2013-12-04 22:04

It's disappointing, but somehow not surprising, that the comments are closed.

I guess they don't want people to connect the dots, showing just how bullshit the claim of rape culture really is... not to mention showing the dangers of hiding behind the assumption false accusations are rare.

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Submitted by Kratch on Thu, 2013-12-05 11:02