National Police have launched an investigation into the death of a young woman from Gijón. Claudia González took her own life last Friday at the age of 20 in the northern coastal city after claiming she had been a victim of bullying.
According to sources at the Gijón police headquarters, the force started investigating the death immediately after her body was recovered from the Cerro de Santa Catalina cliff area in the Asturias region.
“As in all cases of death by suicide, statements are being taken from those around her and the appropriate information is being collected to shed light on the investigation,” police sources said. Officers are studying whether or not there was any evidence that may have influenced Claudia’s decision to take her own life.
Claudia’s parents, brother and closest circle of friends were expected to give statements and expand on a post Claudia had written on her social media about being bullied in recent years.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has also begun investigations to determine if anyone was responsible for the alleged bullying.
In 2014, the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against three students of the Santo Ángel school, also in Gijón, for crimes against moral integrity, harassment and insults against Carla, who a year earlier had tried to take her own life by throwing herself into the sea.
Four minors were identified as having contributed to Carla’s actions, although one of them had not yet reached the age of 14 at the time – and was not criminally responsible.
Bullying protocols in schools
Carla’s sad death on 28 May will serve as a reminder for authorities to review the protocols when tackling bullying at schools in Asturias.
President of the Principality of Asturias Adrián Barbón stressed the importance of young people who were suffering and called on them to ask for help and seek the support of specialists.
“You have to lose the fear of asking for help when someone needs support. When I was a teenager, I went to a psychologist and it was the best decision I ever made in my life,” he said.
Barbón also called on the rest of the education community to act: “I want to denounce this bullying and stress the urgent need for it to be reported by those of us who form part of society. Those of you who are in an educational centre, teachers, families…. This cannot be kept quiet and we are certainly going to have to do much more”.
Source : SURinEnglish
