Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
World
Vassia Barba & Nicola Croal

Teenage girl, 14, takes own life after bullies beat her up in social media clip

A 'happy' and 'beautiful' teenage girl has tragically taken her own life two days after a clip of her being beat up by a group of young girls was posted on social media. Adriana Kuch, who is believed to have been a victim of 'severe bullying' for years, was found dead by her parents in her home two days after the awful assault on February 1.

In the 20-second video, the 14-year-old's cruel classmates were seen insulting, punching and kicking Adriana while pulling her hair, the Mirror reports. Other people could be heard laughing in the video as they stood by and recorded the vicious assault on the teen who attended Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, New Jersey, US.

Three of the four teenage girls in the video have been charged with third-degree felony assault while a fourth was charged with disorderly conduct. Adriana's death and the humiliating clip has sparked fury among the community and her fellow students walked out in protest after teachers reportedly tried to cover up the truth.

Adriana's classmates said the 'disgusting' incident could have been prevented if the bullies who tormented the 14-year-old for years had been addressed ahead of time.

Maria Laycock, a student at the school, said: "It's horrible, it's absolutely disgusting, and I wish people, I wish teenagers were better than this because bullying is just not OK."

A group of Adriana's classmates beat her up which her father believes led the teen to take her own life (WABC)

Meredith Demuro, a freshman student, criticised the school's 'poor reaction' as she said: "We want them to be prosecuted". Another pupil, Lance Jones, shockingly suggested staff tried to cover up what really happened to Adriana.

He explained: "Nobody was supposed to know Adriana killed herself."

However, students found out after teachers were discussing it and it spread through the school.

Adriana has been described as the 'most happy, beautiful young lady in the word' who loved animals (Jennifer Ferro/Facebook))

Jones added the school's administration tried to get students to delete the videos of the attack after the teen's tragic death as they tried to 'silence' them. The victim's father, Michael Kuch, demanded justice after he claims it was the degrading attack which led her to take her own life.

He told ABC7: "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."

The teen's heartbroken father, Michael Kuch wants justice for his daughter as he slammed the school's shocking response to the incident (WABC)

Kuch has slammed the school for the way they handled the situation after Adriana was beaten up.

He said: "My daughter actually blacks out and they don't call an ambulance, they take her to the nurse's office."

Paying tribute to his daughter in a heartbreaking statement, he said: "Adriana was the most happy, beautiful young lady in the world, she loved animals."

*If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out for help. For the UK: The Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch.

For the US: Contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling 988, call the National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741 anytime.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.