An Elementary Student Beaten by a Group of Middle Schoolers
"If You Report, We'll Kill You with a Brick"
In Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, public outrage has erupted after it was revealed that a female elementary school student was gang assaulted by a group of middle school students.
On the 20th, JTBC's 'Sageon Banjang' aired the story of father A, whose elementary school daughter was gang assaulted by a group of students in the 1st and 2nd grades of middle school. According to the report, on the 8th, the perpetrators called A’s daughter and her friend to a nearby elementary school. It is known that the perpetrators summoned them over alleged "talking behind their backs" on social networking services (SNS).
The perpetrators took A’s daughter’s cellphone, slapped her multiple times, pulled her hair, and kicked her down. After the assault, they threatened, "If you don’t fight among yourselves, you’ll get beaten by us," forcing the daughter and her friend to fight.
They reportedly coerced violence with phrases like "Hit the face!" "Poke the eyes!" "Get on top and beat the hell out of them." When A’s daughter asked, "Isn’t this enough?" they replied, "No," and continued to force the fight. However, on their way home, the group suddenly apologized to the daughter but then threatened, "If you report this, we will kill you and your parents with bricks."
Father A learned of the incident after questioning his severely injured daughter and subsequently reported the perpetrators to the police. He told the perpetrators, "This is your last chance, come out with your parents," but no one responded. Notably, one perpetrator classified as a juvenile offender said, "So what? Do whatever you want. Just pay money."
Since the incident, A’s daughter has been receiving psychiatric treatment instead of attending school. A appealed, "They seem confident because they know juvenile offenders won’t be punished. I am determined to make sure they are punished. Not a single parent of the perpetrators has apologized. The students show no signs of remorse."
Netizens who learned of the story reacted with comments such as, "The age for juvenile offenders should be lowered. Teenagers know everything now," "Because of the juvenile offender system that worries more about the perpetrators’ future than the victims’, perpetrators don’t reflect," "We demand the disclosure of the perpetrators’ identities to prevent recurrence," "At least disclose the parents’ identities. Punish them severely," and "I understand the purpose of the juvenile offender law, but then parents should bear legal responsibility. The law itself is creating a blind spot."
Meanwhile, juvenile offenders refer to youths aged 10 to under 14 who commit crimes. Under the Juvenile Act, they lack criminal responsibility and instead of criminal punishment, they receive protective measures such as custody, community service, probation, or placement in juvenile detention centers. However, the number of juvenile offenders has been increasing every year, raising concerns. According to the National Police Agency, between 2019 and 2023, a total of 65,987 minors committed crimes. The annual figures are 8,615 in 2019, 9,606 in 2020, 11,677 in 2021, 16,435 in 2022, and 19,654 in 2023, showing a steady increase each year.
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