Bullied 12-year-old commits suicide

7 June 2007

BRUSSELS – A 12-year-old boy who was bullied by his classmates at the Collège Notre-Dame de Basse-Wavre in Waver committed suicide on Monday night. The francophone newspaper group Sud Presse reported this on Thursday.

The boy was clever for his age and was already in his second year of secondary school. His social immaturity caused him to be excluded at school however.

A schoolmate said the boy “irritated the teachers and students and was rejected by everyone.” Several hours before taking his own life Arnaud had been thrown out of class and an annoyed classmate had made a comment about his appearance.

A spokesperson for the public prosecution department in Nivelles says there was nothing suspicious about his death from a legal point of view. It seems to have been related to his social problems, which his family was well aware of.

The classmates of the victim immediately felt that their bullying had contributed to the suicide. They have set up a blog in memory of Arnaud.

Subject: Belgian news