A recent bullying incident involving minors has come to light in Wanzai County, Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, China. Multiple videos circulating online show groups of teenagers repeatedly assaulting, slapping, and humiliating their peers. In one video lasting five minutes, a boy wearing a white T-shirt is surrounded and beaten by up to nine youths, receiving 62 slaps and 48 kicks. The victim’s face is visibly swollen, and he is seen kneeling and begging for mercy, even being forced to call a masked female attacker “mom.”
Bystanders film the scene while laughing, with some provocatively declaring, “I’m under 16, so the police can’t do anything.”
According to reports by local media outlet Elephant News, the victim filed a police report, leading authorities to initially investigate six suspects identified by the victim. Following widespread sharing of the videos, three more participants were identified and questioned.
Zhou Daoping, deputy chief of the Wanzai County Public Security Bureau’s Kangle Police Station, stated the incident occurred on June 20 and all involved are under 16 years old. They were fined under administrative law but were not detained, instead undergoing mediation with the victim’s family, who agreed to a settlement.
However, the issue has not subsided. As attention grows, social media has revealed three new videos showing different victims being violently attacked. These include victims being forced to squat repeatedly, whipped with tree branches, and a girl in black clothing being slapped and kicked by several assailants. Preliminary investigations suggest most attackers belong to the same group, but many victims had not reported the assaults earlier, limiting police evidence.
The case has sparked renewed debate about China’s juvenile criminal responsibility laws. The 2021 revised legislation stipulates that only youths aged 16 and above bear full criminal responsibility. Those aged 14 to 16 are held accountable only for seven major crimes such as murder, rape, and drug trafficking. Children aged 12 to 14 can only be prosecuted with approval from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and cases involving them tend to be handled leniently. As a result, most offenders in this case have received educational corrections rather than criminal charges.
While the Wanzai police have issued a public notice, they explained the delay in releasing details was to protect the minors involved. Despite this, more videos and victims continue to surface, prompting calls for a thorough review of China’s juvenile justice system, social media platform oversight, school reporting duties, and parental supervision.
