Schoolgirl train suicide may be linked to bullying (update)

An investigation has begun into the apparent suicide of a 15-year-old girl at a school in Meppel, who jumped in front of a train before the start of lessons on Tuesday, watched by several classmates.


There are strong rumours the girl was a victim of bullying and she apparently left a suicide note naming her tormentors, Drenthe provincial paper De Stentor said.
‘We are extremely shocked,’ Astrid Berendsen, of the local school board told the paper. ‘Given the rumours about bullying, we are doing all we can to find out more about the circumstances surrounding this tragic death.’
Local media reported later on Thursday the girl won a poetry competition two years ago with a poem about being bullied.
Last month the 20-year-old Tim Ribberink killed himself after years of bullying. His death hit the headlines after his parents published the text of his suicide note in a newspaper death notice. In the note Ribberink said ‘I have been teased, bullied and excluded my whole life’.

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