A local board of education in central Japan’s Aichi Prefecture has stated that two middle school students have been taken into police custody after their bullying of a 14 year old resulted in a fractured jaw. The victim, from a school in Handa city, is said to have been a target for the boys’ harassment from September, and was punched by one of the teens in October.
School say the victim was told by the pair to meet them in a city park on the evening of October 27th. He was then punched in the face twice by one of the classmates, also 14 years old. The parents of the boy with the fractured jaw reported the incident to the police, who in turn took the assailant into custody on November 14th for inflicting bodily injury. A third student was arrested on December 3rd after he was found to be present in the park restroom at the time of the attack.
Naomi Mizuno, the board of education’s superintendent, released a statement apologizing for not recognizing the bullying situation earlier. Seven other students were reported to be at the park that day, and were subsequently questioned by the middle school via a survey. Apparently the victim was being hit by a classmate since the month before the park incident, while his parents say it was more than 50 times. The bully has explained his behavior as “just playing.” The middle school that the students attended is now working to instruct its students that bullying and violence are not acceptable behaviors. Teachers are also to be trained in order to prevent similar situations of abuse.