NEW JERSEY – Central Regional School District Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides submitted his resignation, amid general outcry, after the suicide of a 14-year-old student who suffered a severe beating and online stalking by female classmates.

In particular, on February 1, the unfortunate Adriana Kuch was brutally attacked in a school hallway by two of her classmates, while two others, who participated in the incident, filmed the beating. Despite the fact that the school initially attempted to present the incident as a ‘dispute’, the family claims the full video shows the attack was unprovoked, with one of the students smashing a water bottle over the 14-year-old’s head. Two days later, Kuch took her own life and was found dead in her bedroom, with her father claiming she could not cope with the video of the beating being leaked online.

The reactions of the family and classmates of the unfortunate Adriana began when the school chose to punish the perpetrators with a 10-day suspension, without reporting the incident to the police. As Regional Superintendent, Parlapanides clarified that the policy of the Department of Education in similar cases does not provide for the involvement of the police, stressing that it would be at the discretion of the family, but in no case would the school contribute to the criminal prosecution of students, only to the disciplinary action.

Following this, the situation for the Greek-American education official became even worse two days later, when he tried to blame the 14-year-old’s family, releasing sensitive personal data to prove that the girl was suffering from psychological problems, especially after the suicide of her mother.

“After [Adriana’s] mother’s suicide since her father was having an affair… Her father married the woman he had an affair with and moved her into the house. Her [Adriana’s] grades and choices declined in 7th and 8th grade. We offered her drug rehab and mental services on five occasions, but [her] father refused every time. We tried helping her several times, but her mother’s suicide was a major reason she started making poor choices,” Parlapanides told the Daily Mail, provoking the anger of Adriana’s relatives and public opinion in general.

“I don’t know how to respond to this insane deflection,” replied the victim’s father, Michael Kuch, who attacked Parlapanides with harsh words, the Daily Mail reported. A little over 24 hours later, and, specifically, on Feb.10, the day of the 14-year-old’s funeral, Parlapanides submitted his resignation, which was accepted on Feb. 11 by the Regional Board of Education, which pledged to intensify efforts to deal with bullying.

The case is expected to take on greater dimensions at the criminal level, since three of the four schoolgirls involved in the incident are now being prosecuted with serious criminal charges by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

“The school should have reported the incident to the police while Adriana was alive and not just punish the students with a 10-day suspension,” pointed out her relatives on social media.