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.