Bullies at a municipal junior high school here routinely forced a 13-year-old student who leapt to his death in October last year to do "suicide practice," according to a student survey conducted by the school.

According to sources close to the matter, 15 students reported in the questionnaire that the victim had been forced to "practice" killing himself. The city board of education did not disclose the finding at its November 2011 news conference on the suicide case.

The parents of the deceased boy filed a lawsuit with the Otsu District Court in February against three students and their guardians as well as the Otsu Municipal Government, demanding some 77.2 million yen in damages. During the first round of oral proceedings in May this year, the Otsu Municipal Government admitted that the boy had been bullied, but also insisted, "We cannot determine that he committed suicide because of the bullying." The attorney for the plaintiffs is expected to submit a brief based on the school survey results for the second round of oral proceedings, set for July 17.