A Manhattan student who was bullied by classmates slipped out of school during lunch hour and killed herself by stepping into the path of a subway train, The Post has learned.
Aileen Jiminian, 17, a senior, left the Manhattan Village Academy campus in Flatiron on Thursday and climbed onto the tracks at the 23rd Street Station on Seventh Avenue, where she was fatally struck by a 1 train around 12:30 p.m., police said.
“She wasn’t in my grade, but I know that other kids would pick on her,” a student said Monday.
“It’s really sad. She would get called stupid or ugly or awkward. Some kids are just really mean.”
Several students went to the school’s grief counselor and said they were upset with themselves over “how they treated her,” said a Manhattan Village Academy source.
“Some of the students were feeling guilty because they were so mean to her,” the source said.
School staff told students not to discuss Jiminian and described her death as an “accident,” according to the school source.
“We were told not to talk about her or what happened,” a student said.
“Our teacher told us last week that she got into a bad accident.”
The school sent out a letter to students’ families on Monday informing them that Jiminian had “passed away.”
“This loss of Aileen is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school, especially our students,” reads the letter, which was signed by the school’s principal, Hector Geager.
It ends with a plea to parents to ask their kids not to post anything about Jiminian online.
“Please, at the request of Aileen’s family, impress upon your child not to post any information regarding this tragedy on social media,” the letter says.
Jiminian was a 2016 semifinalist for the New York Times College Scholarship program. She had a twin sister who attends the school.
Manhattan Village Academy referred all questions to the Department of Education.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one of our students and my heart breaks for her family and the entire school community at Manhattan Village Academy,” Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said in a statement.
“We are working closely with the school to provide crisis resources to support and comfort those grieving during this very difficult time.”
Additional reporting by Susan Edelman and Danika Fears