Niigata: Video shows boys repeatedly assaulting classmates

NIIGATA (TR) – A private high school in Niigata City has deemed a video showing a group of male students repeatedly assaulting two classmates as an incident of bullying, the school said on Monday, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Feb. 18).

In the clip, which was shot after class on February 15 and posted on Instagram thereafter, the group of about 10 boys repeatedly kick and punch the other two first-year students in the head, back and groin area at a seaside location off campus. The victims do not resist the attack.

The school found out about the incident on Sunday via a graduate who saw the video. The school then confirmed the facts of the case with one of the victims. The perpetrators are believed to include current and former students of the school.

One of the victims suffered injuries to his back and knee in the incident and plans to submit a complaint to police.

“If there was in fact an assault and injury, we will investigate the facts of the matter and respond appropriately,” a representative of the Niigata Prefectural Police was quoted.

In regularly conducted surveys, neither of the victims claimed to have been bullied in the past, the school said. However, the school is seeking to determine what led to the incident.

“In addition to [at least one of] the students being injured, I think that there must be great emotional suffering. I want to take into consideration how to care for them first,” the principal of the school said on Monday.