Rebel without a cause: high school mafias
Print Bloody beatings among teen schoolgirls are common: knocking a classmate unconscious, forcing others to remove uniform and even a bra, ambushing, pouring water, hair cutting, hair tugging, tearing and other acts.
On November 23, an eighth grader from Mach Kiem Hung Primary High School in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5 was beaten, for the third time by a group calling themselves F8.
The first time, F8 dragged her into a school’s WC and kicked her in the head and belly. Her head was pushed into a wall, spurting blood.
The second time TT was dragged to a corner during a school break, forced to take off her clothes, kneel and apologize. They poured water, pulled her hair backwards, and videotaped the acts on a mobile phone.
All the time, TT dared not fight back or try to run away.
TT told Tuoi Tre she had no friends at school because her bullies threatened to seriously beat them if anyone tried to befriend her.
Now TT keeps her lips tight for fear she is branded as “insolent” and beaten up.
The F8 group also told her to keep silent about the whole thing or “we will beat you so badly you can only crawl home”.
As Tuoi Tre finds out, F8’s leader was a female student who had a poor academic record and who would pick a fight with anyone that crosses her way.
Most notorious in the school, F8 would recruit members far and wide. Among them were even a class monitor and other prominent students.
Bent on murder for nothing
As a tenth grader, T has just been expelled from Ho Chi Minh City’s Duc Tri High School for trying to stab her classmate’s eye with a pair of divider.
T said she hated H because H was a class monitor, had good academic records and was snobbish.
“If I like it, I will beat [anyone]”.
After being expelled, T. hunted H down to “kill her”, apparently blaming her expulsion on H.
One October 16, T. ambushed near the school and stabbed H. five times. Luckily, people intervened and H was hospitalized in time.
T is also famous for other bloody acts.
Only one month after being transferred to Duc Tri, T punched a 9th grader in the face, breaking her myopia glasses because the victim “is good at learning but is snobbish”.
T even announced that she “is ready to teach a lesson to anyone who looks disagreeable”.
Similarly, VTT, a female student at the Le Lai Primary High School in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 8 was beaten by two female classmates. VTT fainted and was taken to hospital.
The reason is as incomprehensible: “she’s good at learning, quite pretty but too snobbish”.
In Hanoi, in March this year, a female student from a senior high school in Hai Bat Trung district had her shirt torn off, hair pulled backwards, dragged, and kicked. Her face became swollen and totally bruised.
Strangely, other students watching the incident even cheered on the attackers, one of whom was a class monitor.
The reason is to “forewarn her because she always tells the teacher everything”.
Down south in Tien Giang province, a group of three boys and three girls suddenly jumped upon and brutally assaulted a ninth grader during a gym class just last month at the Tan Hiep Primary High School. The case is under investigation.
R-rated clips
In March this year, a 1.5 minute clip was posted on the Internet featuring an 11th grader from Viet Tri Secondary High School in the northern Phu Tho province being hit on the head with a pair of high-heeled shoes.
A group of female students pulled her hair, forced her flat on the floor and kicked her many times into the head.
Another 4 minute clip depicts a 10th grader, also from the same school being forced to tidy her hair and look into the camera while she was being pounded and videotaped. She was forced to kneel and apologize. The attackers stripped off her uniform and her bra.
In September, a different video clip was circulated online, showing a beaten up girl from Ha Huy Tap Secondary High School in Nghe An province’s Vinh City, in the central region.
Despite her repeated begging and cries, she was brutally assaulted.
The case has brought serious public attention since one of the attackers is karate master Nguyen Thi Huong Tra from another school in Vinh, who used to win a high national prize in karate.
Meanwhile, just last October, a three-minute clip was posted on YouTube depicting Nguyen Thi Hoang Nham of the Luong The Vinh Secondary High School in Quang Ninh province’s Cam Pha Town brutally beaten.
She was forced to kneel, had her hair cut, clothes removed and insulted in front of many people.
In total, there have been over 10 video clips posted on the Internet so far this year featuring such bloody school fights, mostly involving young girls in Hanoi, Ha Giang, Phu Tho, Nghe An, Quang Ninh, and Da Nang.
(To Be Continued)
