Published: Less than 10 min ago
A 13-year-old French boy has committed suicide, likely after being bullied at school for being gay. The case has shocked France and has prompted warnings that homophobia is deadly.
Prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation after the boy took his own life last weekend in a town in eastern France.
According to the region’s prosecutor Frédéric Nahon, friends of the boy have told him that he was bullied “by students at his school because he was gay”.
During a press conference on Friday, Nahon announced that material had been found where the boy “expressed his desire to take his own life”.
The prosecutor also said that the investigation must now establish, among other things, that there was “a direct causal connection” between the suicide and the bullying at school.
Many have reacted with dismay to the tragedy, among them the French Minister of Education Pap Ndiaye who writes on Twitter that he “thinks of all the students who are bullied. Their despair is the basis of my determination to prevent all forms of bullying”.
French transport minister Clément Beaune, who himself came out as gay a few years ago, writes on Twitter that “homophobia kills, regrets and support for the family”.
The boy’s family has not yet reported the incident to the police, and according to their legal representative, the family wants to decide how to act after the boy “has been buried in peace”.
The funeral will take place on Saturday. According to the anti-discrimination organization Stop Homophobia, parents have asked mourners to wear LGBTQ symbols as a gesture of solidarity.
Facts
You can turn here if you feel unwell
In emergency situations or thoughts of suicide, always call 112.
There is also help here:
Mind: chat.mind.se, [email protected], telephone: 90 101.
Bris: Call, email or chat. Telephone: 116 111.
Priest on duty: Phone: 112.
Fellow on call: Telephone: 08-702 16 80
Child and adolescent psychiatry: Find the nearest clinic at bup.se.
Source: mind.se
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