Webcam spy case: Why Indian-American student Dharun Ravi didn't apologise

NEW YORK: Indian-American student Dharun Ravi, who was sentenced for a month in prison for spying on his gay roommate, did not apologise to the victim's family as he believed that it would sound "rehearsed and empty".

Days before he was sentenced, Ravi, 20, explained why he was not making a public apology for what he did to his roommate Tyler Clementi. He said that doesn't mean he isn't sorry for what happened to Clementi, but he had his reasons for not speaking.

"Anything I say now would sound rehearsed and empty, and nothing I say is going to make people hate me any less," he told Star-Ledger newspaper.

"Whatever I say will never change the Clementis' mind about me, or how people see me."

"When politicians give public apologies, to me, it always sounds so insincere and false," he said. "No matter what I say, people will take it that way."

Ravi was convicted in March of 15 charges including invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and evidence tampering for spying on his roommate, Clementi, 18, with a webcam while he was with another man. Days later, Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge.

During the trial, Tyler's father Joe Clementi intimated that Ravi's action "affected Tyler at a very difficult time for him, he was very vulnerable."

Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail, community service, and a USD 10,000 fine. Judge Glenn Berman while announcing the sentence said, "I haven't heard you apologise once."