Chinese prosecutors charge thousands of school bullies
Nationwide crackdown includes three-year jail sentence for 15-year-old who robbed his classmates
Chinese prosecutors charged 2,337 youngsters in the first eleven months of this year for school bullying offences, including a 15-year-old teenager who was eventually handed a three-year custodial sentence for robbing his schoolmates.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate, as the prosecutors department is called, released the figures at a press conference amid a worsening trend for schoolyard bullying, the China News Services reported.
A number of violent videos have been posted on the internet this year showing the violent abuse of teenage boys and girls who were attacked by fellow schoolmates.
The national prosecutors office director Zhang Zhijie was quoted as saying that measures had been introduced this year to prevent teenage crime and curb bullying at schools.
Zhang said the authorities would not tolerate severe or repeat offences, even if they were carried out by teenagers.
He cited the case in Chongqing where pupils were charged with robbing schoolmates, including a 15-year-old boy later jailed for three years due to his repeated offences.
The legal age of criminal responsibility in China is 16, but it can be lowered to age 14 in severe cases.
