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By Kim Jong-chan
A report that the chief of a state-subsidized institute for disabled children used violence against a student at the school has stirred controversy.
After the case was revealed, the government suspended subsidies for the institute. But the school changed its name and was chosen again as a recipient of state funding, the report said.
The incident came to light as the entire nation has been venting collective fury over the past several weeks following the release of a box-office hit film, titled “Dogani,” based on a true story about sexual assaults against deaf students by teachers at a school in the southwestern city of Gwangju.
The latest case indicates that child abuses and human rights violations are problems facing many schools for disabled students, observers say.
The 13-year-old boy, identified only by his surname Jung, was said to have been assaulted by the school principal twice on Aug. 10. According to the student’s mother, Wednesday, “My son had bruises on his hips, thighs, stomach and knees.”
“After that, he could not sleep, and hid himself in his room whenever visitors came.”
The mother, 41, said the bruises her son had on his body did not disappear for more than two weeks. “I was upset whenever my son told me, imitating what happened (on Aug. 10), he had a headache.”
