13-year-old boy had left a suicide note

Regarding the suicide of the 13-year-old boy on 5th August, police officials have reported that the deceased’s sister discovered a suicide note, which according to the police was not shared during the incident because the sister had forgotten to mention it.

According to the police, the boy’s suicide note does not mention bullying incidents. Instead the letter was somewhat a farewell letter to his friends and family.

The boy’s family had alleged earlier that bullying had contributed to his death apart from attendance issues and a warning around it and watching disturbing content on the phone including on topics related to suicide.

Investigation from the School

This paper was able to reach the boy’s school principal, vice principal, and his class teachers for 2023 and 2024.

They mentioned that they conducted an extensive meeting with the boy’s classmates and his class teachers. They informed The Bhutanese that they are not denying the existence of bullying in the school, acknowledging that bullying occurs in every school, however, their investigation suggests that the boy did not commit suicide as a result of being bullied.

They also mentioned that it is mandatory to maintain 90 percent class attendance to get promoted to the next class, and that there is no such thing as a suspension in the school just because of attendance shortage. It is in fact a routine protocol for the school to inquire about students that miss classes frequently, so as to provide help if needed.

“The boy had an attendance problem from last year, itself. This time too, the boy had an attendance shortage but by looking at the OPD provided, we considered his attendance,” said the Principal.

The school authorities also shared an instance from last year, where a form related to counseling was filled out to help the child cope with certain issues. However, after the form was filled out, the boy’s father withdrew it, stating that his son refused to attend the counseling session.

Regarding the issue of money, the school mentioned that they inquired with all the boy’s classmates and learned that his classmates did not ask him for any treats. “Instead of asking for treats, the students said that the boy used to ask them to write notes for him, promising to pay them certain amounts of money. However, the students also claimed that they were never paid,” the school authorities said.

The boy’s class teacher from last year added, “The boy’s mother complained to me that her son’s money was being taken by his classmates, but when I asked the students individually, I found out that the boy, himself, had told them he would pay them a certain amount if they wrote his notes. Some of them did write for him, but they said they never received the money.”

Another clarification provided by the school authorities was regarding the child’s project work being broken by a classmate. They inquired with the current class teacher, who explained that the incident involved a science project, which was a group assignment.

The class teacher stated, “I teach them Science, and it was my subject’s project. The boy who is mentioned as a bully in this case was curious about the deceased’s project, and somehow broke it, but the issue was resolved, and it did not lead to any serious issue.”

Additionally, the school mentioned that the boy who accidentally broke the project model has some issues that they are all aware of. The school has provided counseling sessions for this boy and is keeping him under observation, as he has been disruptive to almost everyone, not just the deceased boy.

The boy’s current class teacher also shared that the school visited the boy’s house to offer their condolences, bringing a collected semso (money) from the school. “It was during that visit that the child’s father showed us a one-and-a-half-page suicide note written by the boy. He did not write that bullying was the reason he decided to take his own life. Instead, he wrote that he had so much fun with his friends and that he was killing himself.”

The boy’s previous class teacher mentioned that she frequently reminded him not to miss classes and encouraged him to focus on his studies, reminding him of his potential. She said, “He would be present in my class, as he was good at English, but by the second period, he would ask me to call his father, saying that he had a stomach ache.”

Response from the Boy’s Sister

This paper reached out to the boy’s sister, who shared that her brother was stressed about his attendance, as he perceived it as a warning.

Regarding the money, she agreed that her brother might have told his classmates he would pay them. “He might have told them that he would give them money because he used to miss classes frequently, and because of that, he might have asked them to help him write notes,” she said.

When asked about the suicide note left by her brother, his sister explained that she couldn’t report it immediately on that day because she had so much going on in her head and was under a lot of stress. “It was not mentioned in his suicide note that he was being bullied. He wrote a farewell letter to us and his friends from the colony. But earlier, I assumed it to be a case of bullying because he had mentioned it to us at home that he was being bullied,” she added.

Earlier the sister said that last year he had been late coming home due to a bully and that they were demanding large sums for treats. She said her brother was pressured to give treats, and sometimes he even took money from home without asking them.

The sister had said he also mentioned some older boys who would do really weird things like using drugs and making sexual jokes. He was even bullied about his father’s age and skin colour and his name (the boy’s name).

The paper is yet to get a full copy of the suicide note to see the full content and context of the note.