Police investigating alleged school bullying

A group of middle school students are seen in this captured image, and one of them squeezes another boy's neck while a girl touches the boy's private part, near a building in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Screen captured from online community

By Bahk Eun-ji

Police said Thursday they had launched an investigation into an alleged case of bullying in which several middle schoolchildren held a victim in a neck-lock and sexually harassed him.

The investigation came after a video of the incident, taken in front of a shopping mall in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, went viral online.

In the video recorded Tuesday, one boy puts the victim in a sleeper-hold from behind and a girl, who was smoking, seems to be touching his genital. The boy who was being choked later collapsed.

Three other students just stood by watching.

The citizen who filmed the attack reported it to the police. But according to officers of the Ilsan Dongbu Police Station, both the alleged victim and the other children said they were friends and doing a “fainting game” for fun.

But with the clip spreading, criticism mounted over the police for just believing the alleged perpetrator's claim because “playing for fun” is a typical claim made by school bullies, and the victims usually do not tell the truth out of fear of more bullying later.

A petition was filed on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Wednesday, saying the incident was obvious school bullying, not a prank between friends.

“What the students did to the victim can never be considered a joke,” wrote the petitioner, who identified herself as the mother of a middle schoolchild.

“If the case is not investigated because the victim says it was a joke out of fear of retaliation, other students who are being bullied or sexually harassed will not speak up in the future, believing the police will also not help them.”

The petition had attracted more than 50,000 signatures as of Thursday.