[imagesource: Zanele Zulu / ANA]

With a little technical know-how, it’s actually rather easy to run a targeted campaign of cyberbullying.

23-year-old Dharmesh Singh knew how to hide his identity online, and spent months last year using a fake name to make the life of his neighbour, Andy Hingdebi, a living hell.

In February, Singh pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted extortion but will avoid a R60 000 fine, or a two-year jail sentence, if he is not convicted of similar crimes over the next five years.

In a recent segment, Carte Blanche took a closer look at Singh’s reign of terror:

According to social media law experts, the stress of Alert Level 5 lockdown, teamed with enforced isolation, saw a peak in many South Africans using social media as an outlet for boredom.

Carte Blanche investigates the case of how one cyberbully was exposed and taken to court for his months-long online harassment of a family left traumatised by his actions.

Eventually, it was a silly error on Singh’s part that led to him being identified, and brought some peace to the Hingdebi family.

Here’s the investigation:

[source:carteblanche]