Police have launched an investigation into allegations that some middle school students, acting like “loan sharks,” blackmailed and assaulted their fellow student.
According to Namdong Police Station in Incheon, the parents of the victimized student, 15, filed a complaint against a group of his classmates who allegedly lent him 65,000 won ($55) and asked for exorbitantly high interest rates.
The money they requested him to pay surged up to 500,000 won in a matter of weeks due to interest. If he did not service the loan at a given time, they took him to the bathroom and beat him, police said.
The student often took money out of his father’s wallet or withdrew money from his mother’s account, and delivered it to the “loan sharks.”
His parents discovered the blackmailing through mobile phone messages their son exchanged with the group of students, police said.
The school itself is investigating the allegations and will take punitive action accordingly.
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