Chinese man arrested after boy, 10, stabbed to death at school
Suspect told police he was seeking revenge because he thought the boy had bullied his daughter
A 10-year-old boy was stabbed to death at a primary school in eastern China in an attack local police believe was carried out by the father of one of his classmates.
A 36-year-old man was arrested at the scene after the incident at the Longshan Experimental Primary School in the city of Ruian in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, on Friday afternoon.
He told officers he had gone to the school with a fruit knife looking for the boy, local police said in a statement. The man said he was seeking revenge on the boy after his daughter returned home from school two days earlier, saying the boy had hit her in the eye during class, according to the statement.
“The suspect … said his daughter had a painful eye after an argument with [the boy] at school on Wednesday,” the police statement said. “[He] was angry at the boy, so he brought a fruit knife to the school to seek revenge and hurt [the child].”
Police found the boy collapsed on the floor of a bathroom at the school after responding to emergency calls late on Friday afternoon, news portal Sina.com.cn reported on Monday.
He had multiple knife wounds and a slash to the neck and was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead three hours after the attack.
Photos of the crime scene posted on Chinese social media show a man sitting smoking on the school bathroom floor next to the child’s body, with a knife lying nearby.
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The boy’s father, Ye Wanhuan, told local media he wanted justice for his son.
“My greatest wish now is that the law will severely punish the murderer and grant my son justice. My child died so unjustly,” Ye said.
The children’s parents had communicated over WeChat after the classroom incident on Wednesday and the boy’s parents had agreed to have him apologise to the girl in front of the class, according to local media.
During an audio message exchange that was later posted on social media, the girl’s father said he was concerned that the incident could lead to his daughter being bullied by other students in the class in the future.
“If someone bullied your son, would you stand for it?” he reportedly says in the recording.
Ye told media he was shocked to think that a classroom dispute could have led to his son’s death.
“In what world do we kill children with knives?” Ye said. “Besides, the students didn’t even have a fight – my son said he accidentally knocked into her.”
