The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday expanded a lower court ruling and ordered Tochigi Prefecture and the city of Kanuma to pay a combined 8.6 million yen in compensation to the parents of a 15-year-old boy who committed suicide after being bullied at school.
It is the first time a court has acknowledged that depression caused by bullying resulted in suicide, according to the lawyers for Katsuji and Haruyo Usui.
The Utsunomiya District Court ruled in September 2005 that Takehito Usui was bullied at school and ordered Kanuma's board of education, Tochigi Prefecture and the victim's classmates to pay a combined 2.4 million yen in compensation.