China Sees Rare Midnight Protest Over Bullying Case; Cops Use Batons To Disperse Over Thousand

Last Updated:August 05, 2025, 16:40 IST

A rare midnight protest broke out after a student bullying video went viral in China.

Police used batons and electric prods to disperse thousands protesting a school bullying case. (IMAGE: Human Rights In China/X)

Chinese citizens in the city of Jiangyou protested outside local offices against measures taken against three girls who bullied one of their schoolmates. The incident came to fore after the video of the 14-year-old girl being slapped, kicked and forced to kneel by three other minors went viral in Jiangyou city in Sichuan province last week, according to a report by broadcaster BBC.

The broadcaster said that over 1,000 people took to the streets on Monday and the protest continued until midnight following which “things got bloody" after local police used batons and electric prods to control the crowd.

Police said that the three suspects, aged 13, 14 and 15, were all female and that they sent two of them to “specialised schools for corrective education".

People offline as well as online felt the punishment was too light, as news of the incident spread on China’s strictly censored social media and internet.

The people claimed the punishment did not meet the severity of the act because the bullying was going on for some time and that the deaf mother of the student had pleaded to authorities seeking justice for her daughter.

“People just wanted justice. People were upset about the lack of punishment," a witness told the broadcaster, adding that the police have told locals to not talk about the issue much.

The broadcaster in the report claimed that it had accessed videos where cops were seen dragging protesters along the street and hitting them with batons and that there were water bottles pelted at the cops.

Similar videos were shared by ShanghaiPanda and 中国人权-Human Rights in China.

News18 could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

Police issued a statement to quell rumours that the assailants were the daughters of a lawyer and a police inspector. “Two of the parents are unemployed, two are working outside the province, one is a local salesperson, and one is a local delivery driver," the statement said.

The rumours arose after the bullying videos, shot by the perpetrators, showed one of them saying they were not afraid. Another bully said she has been to the police station close to a dozen times and was set free in less than 20 minutes.

After this, many opined, online and offline that not enough is being done to punish bullying in China. Bullying is among the highly sensitive social topics in China in recent years and student deaths over bullying have previously triggered protests.

Protests happen in China and are not uncommon, but they are dealt with quietly and censored on state-run media and the internet.

Shankhyaneel Sarkar

Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev...Read More

Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev...

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Beijing, China

First Published:

August 05, 2025, 16:40 IST

News world China Sees Rare Midnight Protest Over Bullying Case; Cops Use Batons To Disperse Over Thousand

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