Last night, we told you about some of the fallout which occurred after the Amandala Newspaper ran a headline story about a teenage girl's suicide.
The story was complete with a photo of the young lady on the ground with the rope around her neck, and a note which she left behind explaining why she did what she did.
That note revealed the identity of a young man who she says rejected her, which supposedly drove her to hang herself.
The family of the young man was very vocal about additional distress the article caused them. We'll have more from them, but tonight, we look first at the family of the young lady.
An uncle came to speak to us today to voice the family's outrage at the article. According to him, the suicide note that the young lady wrote was handed over to police, and it was released to Amandala without authorization.
They also contend that the publication of the photo of the young lady with the rope around her neck salted their wounds.
Here's what the girl's uncle told us:
Manuel Vivas - Uncle of the Suicide Victim
"My family is very distraught. They are upset - everything, you just call the word - I don't know what to say about this situation. The article has caused us a lot of distress because 3 factors. Number 1: the child was a minor. Alicia was born on September 21, 1994, and that put her age at 17. She is a minor. Number 2: the personal note on the Amandala Newspaper was given to the police. I have no idea how that note came into the possession of the Amandala Press. Number 3: we gave no permission to the Amandala Press to publish neither that note, nor the picture on the front page of the Amandala. The redress I have done is that I have written an article in all the newspapers addressed to Amandala, copied to the Minister responsible for Police, the Commissioner of Police, and all the Editors of the Newspapers in Belize. I want a public apology; otherwise, we will be seeking legal action against the Amandala Press. We as the guardians are very upset with this newspaper publication."
Demois Williams - Sister of the Young Man Exposed
"They didn't just take down the name of 1 individual; they took a whole family down with that. Your last name isn't just your name; it's a family name."
Voice of: Mother of the Young Man Exposed
"He is still in love with that individual. He had a meltdown an hour ago, and I'm sure that he's going to have another meltdown in the next hour."
Late this evening, we did reach the Amandala Editor, Russell Vellos, who told us that he would not release any comments at this time.
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