Webcam spying case: US may upgrade one charge against ex Indian-origin Rutgers case

Herald Globe (ANI) Wednesday 8th February, 2012

American authorities want to upgrade one of the charges against a former Indian-origin Rutgers student Dharun Ravi, who has been accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate's intimate encounter with another man.

According to the Star-Ledger report, the judge said he caught mistakes in the hindering charges, out of which one was a lower grade than it should have been, and two were higher.

Prosecutors had asked to upgrade the charge that was too low but the judge said it might be unfair to make Ravi pay for a mistake detected by him, The New York Post reports.

Ravi faces 15 criminal counts, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation and a hate crime in the webcam-spying case involving the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi in September 2010.

The case sparked an outcry on bullying of young gays after his roommate committed suicide in September 2010.

Jury selection for Ravi's trial is scheduled to begin from February 21 onwards. (ANI)