Hong Kong police arrest 3 teens over alleged assault on 13-year-old schoolmate

Hong Kong police have arrested three teenage boys on suspicion of assaulting a 13-year-old fellow pupil on campus, after a social media post criticised the school’s handling of the alleged bullying.

Police said they received a report on Wednesday that the boy had allegedly been assaulted at a school in Chai Wan the previous day.

“Following preliminary investigation, the case has been classified as common assault … the boy sustained no superficial injuries and was sent to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital for medical examination,” police said.

In a statement issued late on Friday evening, police said they had arrested three boys aged between 13 and 15 in the Eastern district and Sham Shui Po earlier that day.

“All three arrestees have been released on bail pending further investigation and are required to report back to the police in mid-December,” it said.

The school has been approached for comment.

According to reports, the boy attends Lingnan Secondary School in Heng Fa Chuen and has special educational needs, including a hearing impairment, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities.

The alleged assault took place while the boy was eating lunch at the school’s ground-floor basketball court, where a group of pupils in the same year surrounded and mocked him.

Media reports said the students took turns punching his arms, kicking his lower body and throwing a basketball at his back. The boy allegedly kicked one of the attackers in self-defence. His mother and a school counsellor later accompanied him to Chai Wan Police Station to make a formal report.

The case came to light after a social media user named “chumlokyi” posted that his nephew had been bullied by a group of students. The user said the boy’s parents had taken him to hospital for a medical examination and reported the incident to police.

“We are currently feeling extremely shocked, helpless and furious over the way Lingnan Secondary School has handled the matter,” the user said.

The user alleged that the boy had also been followed and intimidated all the way home after the assault.

According to the post, the school punished those involved with just one minor demerit and a three-day suspension.

“When this group returns to school after their break, what kind of environment will my nephew have to attend classes in? Does the school actually have any concrete isolation measures in place to protect a student? Are the victim’s family members expected to live in constant fear every single day?” the user said.

The user demanded that the school and the Education Bureau take the alleged incident seriously.