The death of a 12-year-old girl in Spain, who fell from the balcony of her apartment with her twin sister, has sparked emotion in the country and reignited concerns about young people’s mental health.
The two sisters threw themselves from the third floor of their apartment building in the small town of Sallent, 60 km from Barcelona, on Tuesday afternoon, the regional police of Catalonia (Northeast) told AFP news agency.
One of them died instantly, while the other was taken to hospital in serious condition, added police, who are launching an investigation.
This drama aroused great emotion in the country, where several leading media outlets claimed that the two sisters may have been the victims of ridicule at their school.
“Since the pandemic, we have been observing an increase in self-destructive behavior among young people, and especially young people,” worried Education Minister Pilar Alegría on Thursday, while calling for waiting for the end of the investigation to understand the precise circumstances of the tragedy.
“We are working with all local authorities so that any case of ‘school harassment’ alerts the entire administration and we can provide the best response,” she added.
The two girls arrived with their families from Argentina two years ago, reported the Catalan daily La Vanguardia, which quoted a relative as saying they suffered from teasing and insults from their classmates at school.
According to several media outlets, including El Pais, the country’s first general daily newspaper, these taunts have increased since one of the two sisters said she felt like a boy.
The regional department responsible for education affirmed that “the establishment did not identify any particular problem of harassment in the school” but “provided psychological and guidance support to the two students since the beginning of the school year”.
Quebec Suicide Prevention Line
• www.aqps.info
• CALL 1 866 (277-3553)
child support phone
• www.jeunessejecoute.ca
• 1.800.668-6868
Tel-young
• www.teljeunes.com
• 1.800.263-2266