7th grade boy beaten to the point of mental disorder: Can sue

Parents of students who beat their friends must take responsibility.

Two months have passed, but the incident of VVTK, a 7th grade student at Dai Dong Secondary School (Thach That, Hanoi), being beaten by a group of friends many times to the point of mental disorder is still receiving public attention.

This is one of the school violence cases that left serious, long-term consequences, and both the victim and the perpetrator were children.

Assessing the incident, Colonel Pham Truong Dan, a member of the 13th National Assembly and former Deputy Director of Quang Nam Provincial Police, said that this was a serious incident. According to Mr. Dan, because the perpetrators of school violence that caused consequences to others were all children, the parents or guardians of these children must be held responsible according to the law.

Image of K. needing someone to take care of him during meals (Photo: Minh Quang).

"From a human perspective, when your child beats someone else's child like that, looking at the family's situation, you should be responsible for the child who was beaten, and provide material support to treat the victim until he or she is healthy again.

The level of support is based on negotiation. In addition to the actual cost of medical treatment, it is also necessary to take into account the cost of care and loss of income due to parents having to quit their jobs to take care of their children," said Mr. Dan.

In case the victim's family does not receive satisfactory support or is not satisfied with the level of support, Mr. Dan advised that the family can file a lawsuit in court, requesting the court to consider and resolve the matter in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Mr. Dan also added that in case of school violence occurring in school, the school must also bear joint responsibility.

Sharing the same view, Dr. and lawyer Dang Van Cuong, member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, commented: "The children's actions towards the victims in this case were intentional acts of causing injury and harm to the health of others. Since these children are under 14 years old, the issue of criminal responsibility will not arise.

However, it is necessary to clarify the causes and conditions to implement preventive solutions, consider administrative measures to educate children, and consider the responsibility of adults when such incidents occur.

In this case, the parents of the children who beat their friend must be responsible for compensating for all damages caused to the victim.

Damages include medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, caregiver wages and other damages incurred during the examination and treatment of this child."

Mr. Cuong also assessed that, based on initial information from the authorities, the incident occurred at school, so the educational institution also has part of the responsibility and must compensate part of the damage to the victim's family.

"The level of compensation for damages will depend on the specific damage and the agreement between the parties. If no agreement can be reached, the law enforcement agency can be requested to consider and resolve the matter according to the provisions of the law," said lawyer Cuong.

The victim was not aware of anyone, including the group of friends who had beaten him.

Over the past few days, K. has been taken to school by his family to help him integrate and relieve stress.

Speaking to Dan Tri reporter on the afternoon of November 29, K.'s mother, K.'s mother, said that on the same day, K. was taken to school but after one period, she complained of a headache. Afterwards, K. was taken home by the principal. When she got home, she screamed that there were several people beating her in front of her.

"He is rarely sober, still calling his parents and everyone around him thugs. He doesn't even recognize the friends who beat him up now," Ms. Mai texted.

K. went to bed to rest after dinner (Photo cut from clip).

Ms. Mai was told by the doctor that K.'s condition would require long-term treatment and that it was unknown when it would improve.

According to the report of the People's Committee of Thach That district, the case of K. being bullied at school was discovered by the school on September 16. By September 21, K. showed signs of psychological trauma. On September 25, the family took K. to the National Children's Hospital for examination and was diagnosed with dissociative disorder (a type of mental disorder).

After that, the family continued to take the child to Bach Mai Hospital for examination and inpatient treatment from October 26 to November 9.

Previously, Phuc Tho General Hospital diagnosed K. with traumatic brain injury and multiple soft tissue injuries after being beaten by a group of friends on September 22 (Photo: NVCC).

The National Children's Hospital diagnosed K. with dissociative disorder and monitored school violence on October 5 (Photo: NVCC).

K.'s discharge papers from Bach Mai Hospital on November 9 (Photo: NVCC).

Currently, Ms. Mai is taking medication for her child at a private clinic. At the same time, K. receives psychological therapy twice a week with experts from the Department of Children invited by the People's Committee of Thach That district and paying all expenses.

At the time of the incident, the families of the students who beat K. supported Ms. Mai with 50 million VND. In addition, the board of directors and teachers of Dai Dong Secondary School donated 10 million VND to take the child to the National Children's Hospital for examination and treatment. Since then, the issue of compensation has not been discussed again.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/nam-sinh-lop-7-bi-danh-den-roi-loan-tam-than-co-the-khoi-kien-20231130133340966.htm