A 15-year-old teenager was found dead in the toilets of a high school in Reims on Tuesday April 9. If the cause of his death remains unknown, “no harassment” has been demonstrated, according to the prosecutor.
In a high school in Reims (Marne), a 15-year-old student was found dead in the toilet on Tuesday April 9 by members of the staff of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste de La Salle establishment. The causes of the high school student’s death are still being investigated. His autopsy carried out on Thursday, April 11, eliminates any “external intervention” which could have been the cause of his death, indicated the public prosecutor of Reims, François Schneider. But the medical examination leaves “gray areas”. Thus, “it was not possible to accurately determine the causes of death and from now on, it will be necessary to wait for the results of the blood tests,” he said. Further results are expected in the coming weeks.
During his press conference, the Reims prosecutor spoke of a “young man without history”, who was the victim of “sporadic mockery which cannot be harassment”. For the moment, “no act of harassment against him has been able to be demonstrated, contrary to what can be said very extensively on social networks”, he affirmed. “This is absolutely not what emerges from the investigation and the statements,” he added. According to him, there is no “objective element” to support the theory of suicide. Death linked to a medical cause is “the most likely hypothesis”.
“Mockery” mentioned
Batiste suffered from a certain “discomfort” at high school, according to Didier Tilly, director of the establishment. He was “a young person who was researching” himself, “who was questioning himself like many young people of his age”, he said before referring to “mockery”. According to France 3, the idea of the adolescent’s sexual orientation is one of the plausible hypotheses. He was also followed by school life. Several students at the establishment reported harassment. The young man was “discriminated against on the basis of his sexual orientation”, according to one of them. Batiste even complained to high school staff.
A psychological support unit has been set up at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste de La Salle high school. The Minister of National Education Nicole Belloubet called for “light” on this death. “Light must be shed on this tragedy: this is what I asked of the network of which this establishment is a part,” she reacted on social networks.