SAITAMA -- The principal at a junior high school in Saitama Prefecture made false statements in an initial report on a bullying case that resulted in a student refusing to attend school in 2022, according to a reinvestigation committee report released by the Ageo Municipal Government in the prefecture.

A female student at a municipal junior high school in Ageo stopped going to school after being bullied by a male student. The female student's side had criticized the school's initial report, calling it a "falsified document."

The latest report was submitted to Mayor Minoru Hatakeyama on Oct. 27. Three days later, he urged the city's education board to ensure the thorough implementation of measures to prevent a recurrence.

According to the reinvestigation committee's report and other sources, the female student, starting from the second term of her second year in 2021, suffered abuse such as being punched in the abdomen by the male student. She was also followed on her way home and received obscene messages on her mobile phone. In May 2022, when she was in her third year, four students were going home together after school when the male student grabbed one of the other students' hands and forced them to hit the female student, and said things like, "Going home in a group means I can hit as much as I want."

The female student, overwhelmed by fear, became unable to attend school and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After the issue came to light, the male student admitted to the facts and refrained from going to school. The female student gradually managed to attend school in the nurse's office rather than the regular classroom after the summer break in August that year. However, she stopped doing so again after the male student resumed attending school in October.

City establishes reinvestigation committee

A third-party committee that began its investigation in November 2022 concluded in a July 2023 report that bullying was the cause of the student's refusal to attend school. However, a petition stating that "the investigation contained numerous deficiencies" was submitted to the municipal assembly, which adopted it. Subsequently, the municipal government established a reinvestigation committee in February 2024.

According to the findings of the reinvestigation committee and other sources, after the female student's side consulted with Ageo Police Station in July 2022, the school recognized the bullying case as a serious situation warranting a thorough investigation.

However, the investigation report prepared by the school in October 2022 falsely claimed that an internal investigation committee, consisting of a school counselor and teachers, was established at the end of August. In reality, no such committee existed, and the counselor only learned that the case had been classified as a serious situation in September.

The reinvestigation committee's report concluded that the school's statement was "independently" created by the principal without going through internal meetings or discussions. The latest report also criticized the decision and response by the school and the municipal education board to allow the male student to return to school. The move was harshly condemned as "extremely poor," particularly for failing to consider measures to ensure the female student, who is unlikely to tolerate being in the same space as the perpetrator, could safely receive an education.

Following the release of the latest report, the female student's side called for the punishment of those involved at the time, accusing them of legal violations such as the creation of false official documents.

(Japanese original by Shoko Washizu, Saitama Bureau)