Investigation launched into death of Italian woman who killed herself after explicit images went viral

An Italian woman who was subjected to online abuse after explicit images and a video of her were widely shared across the country has killed herself.

Footage of Tiziana Cantone, from Naples, performing a sex act on a man were uploaded to the internet in spring 2015. 

The 31-year-old had made a video of herself with her new partner before sending it to her ex-boyfriend, Blitz Quotidiano reported.

The local public prosecutor, Francesco Greco, has opened an investigation into her death which came after a year in which the video was circulated on Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social media. The inquest may establish the degree to which the impact of the video's publication had affected her.

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Her friend, Teresa Petrosino, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that Ms Catone was “destroyed” by the events.

She said: “I wonder how anyone can be so fierce, how to rage against a girl who has not done anything wrong. 

“I think that they should be ashamed of all those who have filled the web of insults and meanwhile secretly watched the images.”

Facebook pages and YouTube bloggers openly mocked her — using her full name — and she became the subject of frequent parodies and jokes.

She also received a stream of insults and abuse on her social media accounts every time the video resurfaced.

Ms Cantone successfully had the video removed from search engines in 2015 but it continued to reappear around the web in various different guises. 

Eventually she was forced to give up work and move north to remote village of Mugnano in Tuscany. 

She had been in the process of legally changing her name when she died, Internapoli reported.