A 31-year-old woman has taken her own life after her sex tape went viral, sparking police probe.

Trigger warning: This post deals with suicide.

A young Italian woman has taken her own life after her sex tape went viral.

Four men are currently being questioned by Italian police in connection with her death.

Tiziana Cantone, 31, had battled for months to have the explicit video removed from the internet after she became the target of internet trolls.

In 2015 Cantone sent a video of herself having sex to three friends and her ex-boyfriend to make him jealous, according to the ABC.

A photo posted by Tiziana Cantone (@tizianacantonereal) on May 15, 2015 at 3:02am PDT

The footage soon appeared on porn sites as well as social media, often with details of her full name attached, before going viral. It has been viewed close to a million times.

At one stage in the video, Cantone can be heard saying “You’re filming? Bravo.” This then became the subject of T-shirts, viral memes, tattoos and parody videos.

Despite quitting her job, moving to Tuscany and attempting to change her name, the 31-year-old could not escape the bullying and online ridicule.

Sole e soleeee

A photo posted by Tiziana Cantone (@tizianacantonereal) on May 15, 2015 at 2:55am PDT

She recently won a “right to be forgotten” ruling that meant the video had to be removed from various sites and search engines, but Cantone was ordered to pay about $30,000 in legal costs — an “insult” several Italian media outlets allege could have been the catalyst for her suicide.

The court order proved ineffective – the video and pictures had already been copied and republished.

“Why are these images still there? Why can people still mock and laugh at this young woman who ended her days because of this humiliation that she suffered?” reportedly wrote Naples daily Il Mattino.

After two previous suicide attempts, Cantone took her own life on Tuesday while staying at her mother’s house, the BBC reports.

“She was hurting and at times took refuge in alcohol. But she was always a healthy and normal girl,” her mother Maria Teresa told investigators, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

“She was suffering from everything she saw and heard and in particular from the outcome of the legal proceedings, because she believed justice had not been done.”

Her death has fuelled debate in Italy about the “right to be forgotten” laws as well as the country’s attitude to sex. While many have expressed grief, some have condemned Cantone for her actions.

“I grieve for Tiziana, who killed herself because she was a woman in a country where uninhibited and playful sex is still the worst of sins,” Author Roberto Saviano wrote on Twitter.

Addolorato per Tiziana, che si è uccisa perché donna in un Paese in cui il sesso disinvolto e giocoso è ancora il peggiore dei peccati.

— Roberto Saviano (@robertosaviano) September 14, 2016

“I wonder how anyone can be so fierce, how to rage against a girl who has not done anything wrong,” friend Teresa Petrosino, told newspaper Corriere della Sera.

“I think that they should be ashamed of all those who have filled the web of insults and meanwhile secretly watched the images.”

The four men now being questioned by police are being investigated on charges of “incitement to suicide” and defamation, the ABC reports.

Image: Facebook/RIP Tiziana Cantone

If this article has brought up issues of mental health for you, you can always contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.