A 12-year-old Filipino boy in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture, was found dead Monday in an apparent suicide, the Gunma Prefectural Police said Thursday.
They said the boy, whose name was not disclosed, must have jumped from the seventh floor of his apartment building because a chair was found beside a railing in the corridor in front of his unit. He probably used the chair to go over the railing, the police said.
According to the municipal board of education, the boy came to Japan in September last year and attended a municipal elementary school. Since he was not fluent in Japanese, he was given private lessons for some subjects.
His 46-year-old mother said the boy told her that he had a fight at school on Nov. 21 with someone who bullied him.
She said she wants to know what had happened at the school. The elementary school said it is investigating the confrontation.
Police officials and the mother said the boy left home Monday morning with his 15-year-old brother but returned alone. He was later found lying in the apartment building's parking lot.