By Jung Min-ho
An elementary schoolboy was found hanged in the restroom of a building in northern Seoul, police said Wednesday.
According to Nowon Police Station, a private institute owner found the 12-year-old boy dead in the restroom on the building’s sixth floor at 4:50 p.m., Tuesday. Police said the strap of his bag was used in what appears to be a suicide.
After getting permission from his teacher to go to the restroom, the boy left the classroom alone and did not return, police said.
They added that there were no signs of foul play within and near the restroom. After checking a surveillance camera at the building’s entrance, they also said no strangers entered the building that day.
However, his parents denied the possibility of suicide, saying he had no reason to kill himself and was excited about traveling to Jeju Island with his family the next day. Based on testimony of the boy’s friends, a local news outlet reported that he was bullied at school, but police have not confirmed this.
Police said they will ask the National Forensic Service to conduct an autopsy on the boy to find the exact cause of death.