On the day of the alleged assault, Li complained of a stomachache and was told by the school nurse to rest in a dormitory. When Wu came in to check on her, he suddenly began kissing her face, lips and forehead, the statement said.

After the incident, the father said Li attempted suicide four times. She first took drugs in October and December 2016 and then prepared to jump off a building the following May before being saved by a firefighter. In January she tried again by taking large amounts of anti-depression drugs, the statement said.

Li and her father reported the alleged incident to police in February 2017. The police sent Wu to a detention house for 10 days in May for molestation.

Li's father felt the punishment was too lenient and appealed to prosecutors in his district to intervene. After reviewing the case in March, prosecutors decided not to press charges against Wu.

According to a statement from the authorities, Wu denied the allegation and said he had touched the girl's forehead with his mouth in order to "take her temperature".

Li's parents were offered 350,000 yuan ($53,500) in compensation by the school, but the money was declined, the father told Beijing Youth Daily on Monday, because a settlement would have required withdrawing charges against the teacher.

"We could not sign that humiliating agreement," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Ma Jingna and Zhang Yangfei contributed to this story.

Harassment victim's suicide sparks soul-searching

The suicide has sparked online anguish about social decay, particularly because some onlookers egged her on and clapped when she jumped.

Footage of the teenager's suicide was widely shared on WeChat and other social media. 

Videos showed Li sitting on a ledge for hours while rescue workers tried to talk her down. Some passersby on the street below heckled her, shouting "How come you haven't jumped yet?"

When she jumped, some people clapped while a rescuer worker screamed out in distress.

Online commentators lamented the callousness of the crowd.

"How cold is society that people will ask her to jump?" one person asked. "The sound of the rescue worker's heart being torn reflects the evil of humanity."

Agencies