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Body believed to be of Greek missing bullied student found

Xinhua, March 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

A body believed to be that of a Greek university student who went missing last month was discovered near a lake in northwestern Greece near the school he used to attend, Greek police said on Sunday.

Vangelis Giakoumakis, a 20-year-old student, disappeared on Feb. 6 from the university school near the city of Ioannina.

Police investigation indicated that the young man had been a victim of bullying by a group of fellow students for months.

On Sunday a couple taking a stroll near a marshy area by the lake Pamvotida found a dead body and alerted police. According to early information the clothing indicated that the body belonged to the missing student.

Police sources said that a knife was found next to the body and the victim suffered deep cuts in this right hand, indicating suicide.

Last week the head of the university school was asked to resign after an internal investigation suggested that he failed to react properly to complaints of bullying against Giakoumakis.

The phenomenon seems to be on the rise in Greece lately. According to a recent UNICEF survey, one out of two 15-year olds in Greece said that they had been bullied at school this year.

In an EU study carried out in the framework of an EU program "European campaign against bullying" Greece ranked fourth behind Lithuania, Estonia and Bulgaria in school bullying last year. According to the survey, 31 percent of students in secondary schools in Greece said that they have been victims of bullying. Endit