China’s bullying problem in spotlight after teenager’s death
- While police did not connect the events, a teenage boy in China drowned soon after he was severely bullied
- The case brought attention to bullying in China, which remains a persistent problem
Three days after he went missing, thirteen-year-old Ke Liangwei’s body was found in the wilderness on October 26. The young teenager had drowned.
Then last week, his story took a dark twist that casts new light on his death and shines a spotlight on China’s bullying problem. A video emerged of a peer slapping the boy in the face and knocking him to the ground in a restroom while several other students looked on and cheered.
It was only after the boy went missing that his family learned that the teenager, a secondary school student from Maoming city in southern China’s Guangdong province, had repeatedly been physically bullied at school, including the day before his disappearance.
The police and education bureau confirmed Ke’s story to the Post on Wednesday but would not draw a connection between the bullying and his death.
When Ke’s life ended in tragedy, it struck a nerve in China because of the prevalence of bullying in the country and the likelihood that the victims would remain silent.