An 11-year-old student hung himself to death with a scarf out of fear of being scolded for skipping school.

The boy, who was living with his aunt, missed school for a few days last week at Dongxiang School, in Dongguan of Guangdong province.

On the first day he had sick leave, but he did not return to school the following days, prompting his teacher to try contacting his aunt.

However, the boy was apparently carrying his aunt's mobile phone.

His aunt, a migrant worker in the town, usually saw the boy only at dinner time and thought he had returned to school.

After finally contacting the aunt through a neighbor, his teacher showed up at his home but could not get in.

When his aunt returned home from work late on Thursday afternoon, she found the door locked from the inside and the TV on, so she told the teacher the boy was fine and she went back to work. Later that night she found him dead.

The police investigating the case confirmed the cause as suicide and a witness said the boy had left a note. He had come to study from Hunan province, where his father was also a migrant worker, the Southern Metropolitan News reported.

The director of the principal's office, surnamed Zhong, guessed he might have been prompted to commit suicide for fear of being scolded for skipping school.

"He had few words to say but liked to play practical jokes like pulling a girl's hair, appearing to try to draw attention in this way," Zhong said.

The tragedy seems to point again to the importance of psychological education and guidance.

In another case, a 9-year-old student named Gao Haiqin tried to kill himself with a "young pioneer" red scarf but failed in Shantou, Guangdong, in November last year after his parents would not give him money to see a doctor for fever.

After three months of treatment financed by a charity fund for the injury incurred in the accident, Gao returned home in August this year but with the intellectual capability of a 4-year-old child.

Suicide, along with drowning and traffic accidents, were listed as the top causes of death for middle and primary school students in Shanghai last year, according to a report released by the municipal education commission.