'Beautiful' girl, 14, took own life after TikTok 'bullying' at London school, grieving father says
ITV News' Sam Holder speaks to Mariano Janin as he shares how he thinks he daughter took her life after being bullied over social media
Schoolboys allegedly bullied a 14-year-old over social media who then went on to kill herself, an inquest has heard.
Mia Janin was a year 10 pupil at the Jewish Free School (JFS) in Kenton, north-west London, when she was found dead at her family home in Harrow on March 12, 2021.
Her father, Mariano Janin, told ITV London said he believes she was cyber-bullied by other pupils at JFS.
On Tuesday an inquest into her death opened at Barnet Coroner's Court, where statements given by friends of Mia to the Metropolitan Police following her death were read out.
In the statements, her friends said that Mia was bullied by other pupils at the school, and that their friendship group was nicknamed the “suicide squad” in the months leading up to her death.
These children shared how one of Mia’s TikToks was shared to a Snapchat group chat run by male pupils at JFS, where they made fun of her.
One child said the boys used the group chat to share nude photos of girls.
The child added: “They took screenshots of girls’ faces on social media and made fun of them.
“They shared a video of Mia’s TikTok and made fun of her.”
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They said the boys also photoshopped girls’ faces onto the bodies of pornography performers.
“They used girls faces on porn stars’ bodies to upset us,” they said.
The child said they had a conversation with Mia the day before she died.
They said Mia asked: "'If you died would people care about you the next day?'
“We laughed it off, that was all she said, it was just in normal conversation,” the child said.
Another child said the TikTok video had been posted by Mia the night before she returned to school after the end of Covid restrictions.
The inquest heard police believe the TikTok was posted on March 10, as she returned to school on March 11.
The child said Mia received lots of negative comments on the TikTok video from other pupils at JFS.
“Mia said she was fine, but I don’t think that she was fine,” she said.
Mr Janin told the inquest that his daughter asked if she could move school after coming home on March 11.
Speaking to ITV London after the inquest concluded for the day on Tuesday, Mr Janin said: "She was a bubbly, lovely person, very nice with a good sense of humour, very creative.
"She was a beautiful person, that's it. No doubt about it.
"First of all, I would like to clarify what's happened with Mia. We know there was big bullying at the school - we like to get some accountability.
"The most important thing for me is to avoid this happening again. This is something which is completely avoidable. But it is a very difficult situation to stand in my shoes."
The inquest heard Mr Janin's wife Marisa, who died of a brain aneurism just months after her daughter passed, told Mia she could be homeschooled for the rest of the school year, and that they would look into moving her to a new school after.
Mia then went to bed and hours later, she was dead.
Area coroner Tony Murphy said there was no evidence that any images or videos involving Mia had been shared in the group chat, except for the TikTok.
The inquest heard that Rabbi Cohen, former deputy headteacher at JFS, told the boys to close down the group after Mia’s death.
JFS says the school was not aware of the existence of the group chat before Mia’s death.
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