School officials punished for bullying scandal

A school in northern Vietnam is under fire after an administrator allegedly tried to cover up a brutal case of bullying.

Five unnamed ninth-grade students at Phu Ung Secondary School in An Thi in Hung Yen province stripped fellow classmate Hanh and beat her brutally on the face and chest on March 22, VN Express reported. The drama, allegedly the second incident on that day, was captured in a 40-second video that made the rounds on social media.

Hanh found out that images of her naked surfaced online. That reportedly traumatized the girl, believed to be 14, and caused her to say she would rather stay home than return to school.

When the school first informed Hanh’s family about the assault, they were led to believe she was attacked by just one student.

But five perpetrators and their families arrived to apologize to the victim’s family on March 25. That was allegedly the time when they discovered the truth.

A teacher had told Hanh’s uncle that she was only “slightly beaten.” But when the family discovered the video of the girl being assaulted — which was also not disclosed by the school — they decided to file a complaint with the authorities.

The young schoolgirl, who allegedly feared being attacked again if she complained, is now being treated at the Hung Yen Mental Hospital for acute stress.

And state officials have taken notice of the case, with the Minister of Education Phung Xuan Nha ordering a thorough investigation and punishment for the parties responsible.

Phung met with Hanh at the hospital and described the event as painful. He said that the teachers must be dealt with as they did not perform their jobs well. The “immoral” students who committed the atrocity would also be dealt with properly, he said.

Phu Ung school principal Nhu Manh Phong has been suspended, while the class teacher has been replaced by another to help “stabilize the mental state of the students”, local District People’s Committee chief Duong Tuan Doan said.

The committee was also advised to discipline and dismiss the school’s board of administrators for concealing information and being too lenient to the perpetrators.