Police Swat teams were deployed in southwestern China earlier this week after a protest erupted over authorities’ handling of a school bullying case last month.
According to footage posted online, the protest occurred on Monday in the Sichuan city of Jiangyou, which is administered by Mianyang.
According to a video posted online by Chinese news site iFeng.com, hundreds of people gathered inside a government building in Jiangyou on Monday in support of parents of a teenaged girl who had reportedly been beaten and verbally abused at school by three students on July 22.
Footage of the bullying incident had been posted online, with rumours spreading that the alleged bullies’ parents were government officials or lawyers – claims that authorities denied on Tuesday.
As public anger rose, police in Jiangyou said two teen girls had been detained for allegedly assaulting and verbally abusing a 14-year-old girl.
Police also said bystanders and a third girl who allegedly took part in the abuse had been “criticised and educated”, adding that the guardians of the teenagers involved had been “asked to strictly discipline” them.
Some mainland media reported that the mother of the bullied girl was deaf, prompting some residents to gather at the government complex to demand harsh punishment for the alleged perpetrators.
According to some residents, hundreds of dissatisfied residents gathered on the streets on Monday, confronting the police.
Some social media videos that have since been blocked show clashes between people wearing Swat police uniforms and citizens near the Jiangyou municipal government.
One video showed dozens of Swat officers trying to contain the crowd with roadblocks and trying to arrest two people in a square in the city’s centre.
Another video showed the crowd trying to stop a Swat officer from arresting a young man.
The Post has confirmed that the videos were filmed in Jiangyou late on Monday night and early on Tuesday morning.
A staff member at Mianyang’s police bureau said the “incidents in Jiangyou” were being handled by “local police and government”.
Jiangyou police have been contacted for comment.
On Tuesday, a hotel employee said it had been “very chaotic” outside the night before but declined to provide further details.
An employee at a nearby shop said many police officers had been outside on Monday night and the roads near the municipal government were closed on Tuesday.
Several map apps showed roads in central Jiangyou closed to traffic by Wednesday morning, but no reason was given for the closures.
On Wednesday morning, Fujiang Guancha, an online media outlet affiliated with the Mianyang Communist Party committee, quoted police as saying that they took almost two weeks to handle the case because they had to first wait for the results of an injury assessment.
The outlet also quoted a relative of the victim as saying that they hoped social media users would “stop reposting videos” related to the incident, adding that they “hope to return to normal life”. – SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
