Bullying Suspected in Schoolgirl’s Suicide

TOKYO —  A 13-year-old Japanese schoolgirl died after jumping in front of a train, apparently in despair over being bullied at school, a police official said Friday.

She was the second pupil from the school to commit suicide, and had left a note with a close classmate that could be interpreted as a suicide note, the official said.

The girl jumped in front of the train in Tomakomai, on the northern island of Hokkaido, just after midday Thursday.

The girl was a monitor at class meetings and classmates said she was brutally teased for the way she conducted these meetings and for her slightly plump figure.

In November, a 15-year-old boy killed himself by jumping in front of a train near where the girl died. School authorities said after his death that they would stamp out bullying.