The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Family says boy could have been saved if medical services responded faster
On August 5th, a tragic incident occurred where a 13-year-old boy, who was in seventh grade, in a Middle Secondary School in Thimphu committed suicide.
The family of the boy are unhappy with firstly how the boy’s life could have been saved if the medical services responded faster and secondly the cause of his death which included bullying.
The boy’s elder sister said on the day, the child mentioned that he was not feeling well, as he was suffering from stomach pain, and consequently refused to go to school.
“On Monday morning, he didn’t go to school. My father was resting in another room, and I told him that my brother was sick and sleeping inside. After I returned from work, it took time for me to see him, thinking he was still sleeping,” said the sister.
When she entered her brother’s room, she initially thought he was joking and pretending to have fainted, but she soon realized, her brother was not acting.
“As my father is old, I told him to stay, and I ran to seek help from my neighbor. But when my neighbor tried to resuscitate him, I realized he wasn’t waking up,” she said.
“During such an emergency, I think the emergency service is a huge failure because at that moment when my brother’s condition was critical, I called the ambulance twice, but the reply from the other end was that they were in the queue,” said the child’s sister. “So, I cut the call, and even though I don’t have a driver’s license, I took my brother, put him in the car, and drove at full speed to the hospital. But the service was extremely late. I had to scream and shout that someone was dying in the car and to hurry up. I wished they had rushed because when I said it was an emergency, they should have treated it as one. This is not something to handle calmly—every second counts.”
She expressed that her brother could have been saved if the emergency responders had reached their house on time with the necessary medical equipment.
“It was 20 minutes late getting him to the hospital as per the doctor,” said the sister.
This wasn’t the first time the child refused to go to school; his sister mentioned that he frequently missed classes.
The other reason that is disturbing the family is the cause of the boy’s suicide.
“There are three reasons why my brother committed suicide. First, he was a victim of bullying. Second, he was under immense stress because the school had given him a warning and threatened suspension, because of him missing a lot of classes. Lastly, I also have concerns about his use of the mobile phone. I noticed he was watching disturbing videos that portrayed killing and dying, which might have influenced him. He even used our father’s phone to browse topics related to suicide, and although most of the browser history was cleared, I suspect this content played a role in motivating him.”
The boy’s sister mentioned that before joining the current Middle Secondary school, her brother attended a private school and had no attendance problems, nor did he frequently miss classes. “Since joining the current school, however, he has been very reluctant to go and often missed classes. Recently, the school even called us for a meeting, warning that he might not be promoted next year due to his attendance.”
She mentioned that due to her mother’s busy schedule, she couldn’t attend the meeting, and her sister had already taken a lot of leave from work. As a result, their father attended the meeting.
A few days before the child’s death, his sister mentioned that he had been unusually affectionate. “My mother told me that he was kissing her and saying ‘I love you.’ I was away from home at the time, and he texted me from my mother’s phone, joking with me,” said the sister.
When the paper asked the boy’s sister if he had shared anything concerning, she revealed that last year he had been late coming home due to a bully. “They were dealing with money and demanding large sums for treats. My brother was pressured to give treats, and sometimes he even took money from home without asking us.”
The boy’s sister also mentioned that it was the boys in his class who used to bully him. She specifically pointed out one student, a classmate, who she said had once broken the brother’s project.
She said that when the project was broken, the boy complained to the teacher. She was worried that the situation might escalate into a fight and that he could get hurt, so he stayed with the teacher until they came to pick him up. “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).
Other than the stomach pain, the sister said he also refused to eat regular foods, which was concerning. They took him to hospitals to check his stomach, but nothing specific was found. He also complained of exhaustion and headaches, so they did an MRI to check his brain, but everything appeared normal.
“He was so exhausted when he came home from school that he couldn’t even remove his shoes,” said the boy’s sister. “All these complaints from him were vaguely mentioned, and only the project incident was taken seriously. We never realized it would lead to such drastic actions.”
It is suspected that the boy was frequently absent from school to avoid being bullied.
Police officials said that the doctors reported the child had passed away at home before reaching the hospital. The forensic team has also indicated that there is no foul play.
According to the police officials, from the school’s side, it was noted that the child used to stay absent frequently. “The investigative team learned from his classmates that some of his peers used to bully him, but the school said it had not been reported to them,” said the police official.
The school has filed a report to the Thromde Education office. It is learnt that the school in its report mentioned that the boy had never complained to teachers about being bullied nor did he approach the counselor. The report said that while a boy who was known to be naughty in class did damage a project it was a group project the victim was involved in. The boy being frequently absent was noted.
With the school’s report, not being conclusive or insightful and all the people involved being minors it will now be up to the RBP to get to the bottom of the matter.
