She ended her life in June 2019. The suicide of little Evaëlle, 11 years old, gave rise to the opening of a trial on October 14 for harassment of a minor under 15 years old before the Pontoise criminal court . He will be fired next March “for scheduling reasons”reports TF1 .
The channel released a report dedicated to this complex affair in the show Seven to Eight from Sunday October 13. The opportunity for the girl’s parents and her teacher – accused of having participated in the harassment of the schoolgirl – to reveal their truth about this tragedy.
Victim of school bullying
Evaëlle, an 11-year-old schoolgirl, killed herself at the family home in Herblay-sur-Seine (Val-d’Oise) on June 21, 2019. She had just changed establishment during the school year in due to the harassment she suffered at her former college.
As soon as she returned to 6th grade, in September 2018, the teenager described as joyful but having difficulty forming social relationships suffered the first acts of harassment from her classmates.
Read also: Suicide of Evaëlle, 11 years old, in Val-d’Oise: we summarize the case for you
A banal schoolbag story at the origin of conflicting relationships
The situation escalated when a conflict arose with his French teacher over a schoolbag that was too heavy. His parents, Marie and Sébastien Dupuis, explain to the teams of TF1 that they had then bought him a binder rather than several notebooks to lighten his bag. “If you don’t come back with a notebook, I won’t accept you in my class”the teacher would have told her, says her mother.
The professor in question returned to this episode, believing that it was “complicated that a parent tells (him) that he shouldn’t make a comment” to a student. « […] I never put her in detention. I never punished her. I noticed that there were difficulties with this workbook. What I wanted was to get her out of her difficulties”she continues.
An hour of class life deemed humiliating
Evaëlle made a first suicide attempt a few weeks after this encounter. Her mother explains to our colleagues that she found a letter written by several classmates in which they explain that they no longer want to be friends with the young girl. Marie Dupuis then allegedly asked her daughter to give her the names of her problematic classmates before referring them to the principal. An anti-harassment protocol is put in place but cases of harassment – some of which involve the use of violence – do not stop.
Read also: Suicide of Evaëlle. Can a school head be held responsible for a student’s suicide?
An event worsens the situation shortly before her change of establishment in February 2019. One evening, Evaëlle returns home recounting having experienced a humiliating scene at the hands of her French teacher.
In fact, she had organized class hours dedicated to school bullying. The students would have been instructed to express their criticisms to Evaëlle who then had to justify herself in front of the entire class. A decision taken to put an end to quarrels between students, according to her. “In no case was it Evaëlle’s trial. At the end of the class, they asked each other’s forgiveness and things were said. I had the feeling that it wasn’t so bad after all.”she advances in front of the cameras of TF1.
“She can’t say she didn’t have a hand in our daughter’s condition.”
The little girl changes establishments but suffers ridicule from her new classmates. On June 21, the day of her suicide, the little girl allegedly had an altercation in class.
The investigation launched into harassment after her death looked into the actions of the French teacher. In fact, some students from the first establishment told investigators that the teacher had set up a word box “to say what was wrong with Evaëlle”specify our colleagues. “She can’t say she wasn’t involved for a minute in our daughter’s mental state.”says Marie Dupuis.
In May 2023, the professor was indicted for harassment leading to suicide. The one who no longer has the right to teach due to her judicial control contests the accusations. “Harassment would mean that I was aware of having hurt someone, […] that I prepared it in a premeditated mode by telling myself in the morning that I was going to harass so-and-so. No “she says.
If the trial was postponed until March 2024, it is because the court saw fit to add a day or two of hearing for “judge this harassment case”according to information from Parisian .
