In a flash, the macabre cliché had made the rounds on social networks.
Photographed by a man of just 20 years old, Océane's lifeless body was posted on Snapchat just minutes after the teenager's suicide.
The uneventful girl, originally from Lisses, had gone to bed on the RER tracks at Evry-Courcouronnes station on March 8, 2018. She was 17 years old.
Victim of a scam with stolen checks, orchestrated by her boyfriend, she had not overcome the shame and the remorse to have been manipulated.
This Monday, the Paris court must rule in civil proceedings on the damage suffered by the family and relatives of Océane following the posting of this photo.
On a criminal level, the author of this macabre image has never been tried.
He was sentenced to a simple reminder to the law while the texts provide for up to one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros for the dissemination of images of this type.
Traumatized families
Since the tragedy, the entourage of the young victim has mobilized to raise awareness about the scourge of shocking photos and videos disseminated via social networks.
Last February, the “Prévention Océane” association was set up for this purpose.
Laurence Alger, Océane's older sister, is the very active president.
Relatives and friends of Océane came to attend the trial of the one who defrauded him.
LP / SM
“People who take this kind of images of violence, suicide, harassment or rape and broadcast them forget that there is a family behind, insists Laurence.
And the consequences for them are enormous.
This photo of Océane, I myself came across it some time after her suicide.
It is of course a shock.
And when I think that this snapshot can still be kept on the smartphone of someone who captured it, it hurts me a lot.
"
"Raise awareness and remind people of the laws"
On Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the association collects and disseminates testimonies from victims or relatives of victims of this kind of abuse with often dramatic consequences.
“The goal is to raise awareness, of course, but also to remind people of the laws,” continues Océane's sister.
The person who takes and disseminates this kind of pictures falls under the scope of these texts, but the simple fact of transferring in turn the image received is also an offense.
And that people need to know.
The famous
Everyone the fact
that we can sometimes hear as a justification is not an excuse.
"
The association is also working on the guilt of the direct victims of these humiliating or defamatory images.
“If a boy posts intimate or degrading photos of his girlfriend on social media, she's the one to feel at fault.
It is her that Internet users will judge and not the one who put these private images online.
It's a shame, ”Laurence Alger indignantly.
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According to her, the situation is the same for victims of bullying at school.
“We are here to tell these people that they are indeed victims.
They are not guilty of anything.
There is a whole education to be taken on this subject.
Why not consider a partnership with the school community?
»Proposes the president of Prévention Océane.
“We're not crying out for justice,” she concludes.
Our fight is just to show how our society comes to behave today.
"
The family is also suing the bank
Judged in October 2019, the stolen check fraud case of which Océane had been the victim had resulted in the conviction of her boyfriend.
Faced with the criminal court of Evry, he had received a one-year suspended sentence.
Relatives of the young girl also initiated proceedings against the bank which had cashed the famous checks.
"We have assigned it for non-compliance with contractual commitments and the legal obligation of information, prudence and vigilance," said Laurence Alger.
“Océane had alerted her bank branch by email after her doubts about the nature of the checks deposited.
The day before her suicide, she had even been received by the director of this agency.
Océane was a minor and my parents were never alerted.
These are serious failings for which we want an explanation.
"
The victim's sister also sent a letter last month relating this affair to the Minister of Justice and the President of the Republic.
"We want to alert at the highest level on the trivialization of these scams with stolen checks", concludes Laurence Alger.
