Four 13-year-olds will be tried in France for “school bullying that led to suicide” of a peer who committed suicide in early January in Golba, the prosecutor’s office said today.

The death of little Lucas caused strong emotions in France and a lot of responses on social networks. The teen’s relatives believe he committed suicide after being persecuted for being gay.

“Four minors” were taken into custody by Épinal police after a preliminary investigation was completed, prosecutor Frédéric Naon said in a statement. They are two girls and two boys who went to the same school as Lucas and only admitted to bullying their classmate many times, he explained.

Events unfolded from September 2022 to early January 2023. Four teenagers will appear before the Épinal Juvenile Court on charges of school bullying that led to the victim’s suicide.

The prosecutor also announced that an “unspecified” investigation had been opened into the “failure to report the mistreatment of a minor”.

Lucas wrote in his diary “a sentence explaining that he wanted to kill himself”. Relatives said he was teased and abused by other students at Louis Armand Golby High School for being gay.

The suicide of a child caused many reactions. “Thinking of all the students who are being bullied like him, their desperation reinforces my resolve to prevent all forms of bullying,” Education Minister Pap Diagé tweeted.

Source: RES-IPE