Bullied student commits suicide in Gwangju

A 14-year-old student at a middle school in the southwestern city of Gwangju apparently killed himself after being bullied by his peers, adding to the recent spate of bullying-related suicides.

The Gwangju Police said Friday that the boy was found hanging from a corridor railing in his apartment building on Thursday morning. They found no suicide note.

The police investigation took statements from his friends and father that he had been harassed by one of his classmates.

Two of his friends told police that he was worried he might be punished for his low grades by his parents, according to officers. But his father, who talked with two other friends, said one of his classmates beat him as though he was a sand bag, threatened him into buying cigarettes for him and threw bags at him.

The police said they will form a special investigation team on school bullying cases and further investigate the cause of his suicide.

By Lee Woo-young

(wylee@heraldcorp.com)