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A woman jumped from a shopping center in Yokohama, Japan and hit pedestrians beneath, killing two individuals.
The 17-year-old highschool pupil jumped from a constructing in a crowded procuring district on Saturday night time and hit a 32-year-old lady who was out with pals.
The 2 have been instantly taken to hospital at round 18:00 native time (09:00 GMT), the place the lady died an hour later. The lady additionally died shortly afterwards.
It is unclear why she took her personal life, however in response to official statistics, extra individuals underneath 18 take their very own lives in Japan on September 1, the eve of the brand new semester, than on some other day.
Final 12 months, 513 youngsters dedicated suicide in Japan, with “college issues” thought-about the commonest issue.
College students who don’t wish to return to highschool are referred to as “futoko,” or “non-schoolers.”
In accordance with a earlier survey by the Ministry of Training, the principle the explanation why these futoko keep away from going to highschool embrace household conditions, private issues with pals and bullying.
In recent times, authorities and media organizations have tried to boost public consciousness of the challenges college students face right now of 12 months.
For instance, Japanese public broadcaster NHK launched an occasion on Twitter referred to as “August 31 Evening”.
The most recent incident in Yokohama mirrors the same incident in 2020, when a 17-year-old boy jumped from the roof of a shopping center in a busy space of Osaka and killed a 19-year-old feminine pupil.
On the time, the boy was charged with manslaughter after his dying, which meant his household was answerable for compensation to the households of the victims he killed. Nonetheless, the costs have been dropped shortly after.
Authorities have to this point not expressed any accountability for Saturday night time’s deaths.
Whereas the suicide price amongst Japan’s basic inhabitants is slowly declining, the suicide price amongst Japan’s younger individuals is rising.
Japan is the one G7 nation the place suicide is the main reason behind dying amongst youngsters.
Extra reporting by Chika Nakayama in Tokyo.
