4th grader commits suicide in Yogyakarta
4th grader commits suicide in Yogyakarta
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Gunungkidul
A 10-year-old fourth grader has hanged herself with a belt in her
house in Logandeng village, Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta in
what is believed to be the latest case of child suicide in the
country.
The reason for the suicide on Thursday is unknown, though
Andang Wijaya, the seven-year-old brother of the girl, Awang
Aditya, suggested she feared being reprimanded by her teacher
over an incomplete scout uniform.
The girl's body was found by her brother at 6:15 a.m. when he
went to see if she was ready to accompany him to their school at
SDN Siyono III elementary school in Playen.
On seeing his sister's body, the boy screamed for his mother,
Dwi Mulyani, who soon after alerted the neighbors to the tragedy.
The neighbors assisted the family in taking the girl's body to
Sardjito Hospital in Yogyakarta.
However, as of late Thursday, both the police and the hospital
had declined to comment on the case. The girls' distressed
parents, including her father Suwarno, also refused to talk to
journalists.
The girl's brother said the two had woken up at 4:30 a.m. and
showered. Their mother made their breakfast while their father
went back to sleep.
When getting ready for school, the girl realized the skirt
from her scout uniform was not dry, he added.
"Sister asked mother to borrow a scout uniform from a friend
whom she thought had two uniforms," the boy recalled.
A neighbor, Simpang Widodo, said the girl had not shown any
signs of unusual behavior in the last days of her life.
"But this morning I heard her mother's screams and, when I
arrived, I saw her hanging from the neck by a black belt," the
neighbor said.
"She committed suicide because she was afraid her teacher
would scold her for not wearing her uniform properly," he said.
Awang's suicide was the latest after an eight grader in
Cipeundeuy, Bandung committed suicide in October.
A number of causes have been cited for the rising number of
child suicides in the country, including bullying, harassment and
poverty. In one case a boy killed himself because his parents
were unable to pay his school fees.