SAPPORO -- The Hokkaido Prefectural Board of Education revealed on Oct. 25 that a freshman at a prefectural high school was sexually harassed and hung upside down in a school bathroom, among other types of bullying by senior students in 2022.

The education board recognized this situation as "serious" bullying and established a third-party committee of experts in 2023.

According to an investigative report released on Oct. 25, the victim entered the school in April 2022. For about six months, he was bullied by three upperclassmen, including a third-year student with whom he shared a dormitory room. The bullying included hanging him upside down in the school bathroom and sucking his body parts with a vacuum cleaner in the dormitory hallway.

The bullying came to light after the mother of the victim complained to the school in December 2022 and consulted police. The three students were placed on probation following a family court juvenile trial which found their actions constituted sexual assault and battery. The three voluntarily left the school. The victim reportedly stayed in school without becoming absent, and is currently attending classes.

The investigative report criticized the school, stating that while teachers in contact with the victim may have witnessed some of the bullying and been aware of the situation, none of them reported it to the school, and the information wasn't shared with other school staff. The report also considered the prefectural education board's response problematic for failing to provide thorough guidance on the anti-bullying policy adopted by the school.

The education board issued a comment stating that the bulling was "extremely regrettable, adding. "We take the situation very seriously and will thoroughly work to prevent a recurrence."

(Japanese original by Jangrae Kim, Hokkaido News Department)