His story caused a national sensation. On January 7, Lucas, a 13-year-old schoolboy, committed suicide after experiencing homophobic harassment from classmates. This Monday, June 5, the juvenile court of Épinal recognized the school harassment of Lucas by four university students.
Last April, the prosecution did not seek recognition of the harassment as a cause of suicide, thus contradicting its own conclusions drawn at the end of the investigation. Not considering the causal link between these facts and the teenager’s suicide, the judge thus avoids the maximum sentence for the four young defendants, ie five years’ imprisonment.
Provisional educational measures have been pronounced against the four university students, pending the next hearing which will fix the sanctions. This will happen on January 22, 2024. They incur up to 18 months’ imprisonment.
A “relief” for Lucas’ mother
Despite this redevelopment, SeverinoLucas’ mother, shared it “relief” at the end of the delivery of the decision: “The verdict that has been handed down is good because the harassment is serious. Everyone must realize this. I was waiting for my son to be recognized as a victim of school bullying, this is all I owe him, this is my fight now”told theFrench media agency.
As a reminder, Lucas had left a letter, explaining his deed. His relatives had denounced acts of harassment, revealing the homophobic taunts and insults which he said he was the victim of by other students at his college.
His death had caused a national outcry and the Minister of National Education Pap Ndiayehe himself had reacted with emotion during a session in the Senate: “When a child ends his life, there are no words to express the emotion, the pain, the pain. This drama shows how tackling school bullying must remain a priority for the government.. In the meantime, he had denounced homophobia at school, without presenting concrete measures.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
