8-year-old girl hangs herself at home in apparent suicide
Thursday 19th August, 09:25 AM JST
OSAKA —
An 8-year-old girl was found hanging from the balcony of her home in Takatsuki, Osaka, in an apparent suicide, police said Wednesday. Her room had been locked from the inside, police said.
The girl's mother, 27, returned home from work about 6:20 p.m. on Tuesday and discovered her daughter hanging by a towel from the balcony. She called 110 and then her husband. The girl was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. An autopsy on Wednesday revealed that she died about 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to police, the girl and her family had moved to the Osaka area from Muko in Kyoto on Jan 25. On Feb 1, the word ﾂ"dieﾂ" was found written on a small case belonging to the girl. Her mother, 27, alerted the school and said that her daughter had been subjected to bullying. On Aug 15, her mother contacted the school again to tell them that the same note had been found scrawled on 12 of the girl's textbooks.
A school spokesperson said the words appeared to have been written by the same person but that they were unable to find out whose handwriting it was.
The girl had been absent for roughly 10 days in February but since moving up a year in April, only one absence had been recorded.