Ten students including eight minors in East China’s Anhui Province have been given administrative punishments after a video showing them bullying a 14-year-old female student went viral on the internet, sparking an uproar among Chinese netizens on Monday.
The video clip went viral on Friday, in which a female student was bullied in a toilet by several female students. The student was repeatedly slapped by the group who were filming the incident. One of the group members even shouted “Don’t be afraid, I will take the responsibility.”
The local police from Shexian county in Anhui Province confirmed the incident on Monday.
All ten students had been investigated, and the eight minors were accompanied by their guardians. Among the ten, one was punished with 14 days of administrative detention, the police said on Monday.
Of the ten bullies, two were exempted from punishment because they are under the age of 14, but their guardians were told to be strict with them, according to the police. Three including the group leader were exempted from administrative punishment from six to nine days as they are above 14, but under the age of 16. The other four will not be punished based on law due to minor offenses.
Most netizens expressed their anger toward the bullies’ actions and asked for strict punishment to be handed out. “These bullies are ‘devils’, who should be punished strictly,” one netizen wrote.
There have been multiple reports related to campus bullying in recent years. China’s top education authority Ministry of Education released a series of measures including investigating campuses where bullying occurs in January this year to prevent campus bullying and build a safe school environment for all teachers and students.
A police officer teaches an anti-bullying session to students in March in East China. Photo: VCG
