Protests in China over bullying after viral footage shows classmates beating and humiliating teen
Authorities sent two of the attackers to correctional school for assaulting and verbally abusing the teenager, but many citizens criticised the punishment as too lenient, especially after reports revealed the girl had faced bullying for a long time and her deaf mother had repeatedly pleaded for help.
One of the attackers allegedly claimed that she had been detained by police over 10 times and always walked free within 20 minutes, further inflaming public anger.
On Monday, nearly 1,000 people gathered outside local government offices in Jiangyou in Sichuan province to protest and clashed with police.
Footage showed officers using batons and electric prods, injuring several protesters. A video verified to have been filmed outside the city hall showed police – both in blue uniforms and plainclothes – forcibly pulling two people aside, including a woman in a black dress who was dragged away by her limbs. 'They are sweeping away citizens everywhere,' a person was heard saying as the woman was taken away.
In a video shared by Yesterday BigCat, a YouTube channel documenting protests in China, a demonstrator angrily recalled one of the attackers boasting she had been detained multiple times before and released without consequence.
Police said the teen's beating, which happened last month and left her with several bruises on the scalp and knees, was filmed and shared online by bystanders.
Many citizens condemned the punishment as too lenient. 'The sentence is too light,' a comment on Chinese social media site Weibo read, 'that is why they were so arrogant.'
'The penalty for causing minor injuries is too mild, while the physical and mental trauma suffered by victims is overlooked by the law, which leads to a significant imbalance in the protection of their rights,' the BBC quoted a Shanghai lawyer as writing on Weibo.
Authorities denied online rumours the attackers were daughters of powerful officials and punished two individuals for spreading misinformation, according to the Guardian.
'Two of the parents are unemployed, two are working outside the province, one is a local salesperson, and one is a local delivery driver,' police said in a statement, refuting the rumours.
In 2023, protests erupted in Shangqiu in Henan province after a 14-year-old boy died under suspicious circumstances. While his school claimed suicide, his parents alleged he had been physically assaulted.
That incident added to growing concern over school bullying in China. That same year, authorities vowed to crack down on bullying after a court sentenced a teenage boy to life in prison for killing a classmate he had allegedly bullied for a long time.
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