China: School Bullying Incident Triggers Mass Protests
A shocking incident of school bullying in southern China has triggered public outrage and renewed calls for justice and child protection reform. In Jiangyou city, Sichuan province, a 14-year-old girl was violently assaulted by three other teenage girls, aged 13, 14, and 15.
In a video that quickly went viral, the girl is seen being slapped, kicked, and forced to kneel while her attackers laugh, threaten her, and boast about their repeated run-ins with the police. One of them even claimed to have been released within 20 minutes after being taken in by authorities, suggesting a disturbing level of impunity.
The affected child, reportedly bullied over a prolonged period, had turned to the authorities through her mother, who is deaf, for help. But their pleas went largely unanswered.
After the assault video surfaced, the police sent two of the attackers to “specialised schools for corrective education, ” a punishment many felt was far too lenient, especially given the extent of physical and psychological harm inflicted.
The response sparked widespread anger online and drew more than 1,000 people to protest outside local government offices on 4 August. Eyewitnesses reported violent confrontations between police and protesters, with officers using batons and electric prods to suppress the crowd.
Some videos show protesters being dragged and beaten. Authorities later issued a second statement denying rumours that the assailants were children of powerful officials and punished individuals for “spreading false information,” further deepening public mistrust.
This incident is not isolated. It follows a pattern of school bullying cases in China that end in tragedy or public unrest, highlighting deep flaws in how such cases are handled by schools, police, and the legal system.
At the heart of this case are two fundamental violations of the affected child’s rights: her right to be protected from physical and mental violence, and her right to receive education in a safe environment, both of which are guaranteed under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which China has ratified.
