Bully-beaters end up in court
2004-01-29 23:08
Johannesburg - A group of young primary schoolchildren, whose lives were made hell by three older bullies, finally found the courage to turn around and take their revenge.
They got together and beat up the main culprit.
However, their courage earned them time in police cells when
the bully laid a complaint with the cops.
The primary schoolboys, aged between 11 and 13, told Daily Sun: "One of them is 15 years old and he often used to beat us up. He was bigger than us and more powerful, so what could we do?"
One of the children said: "He would hold a sharp pencil or some sharp thing to our necks and force us to give him our lunch money or lunchboxes. If we refused, he would start to hit us."
Another victim said: "This older boy came to the school with his father's gun, which he said was a 9mm, and he said he would take us out, one by one, after school."
The boy added that the bully and his two friends, all older than the rest of the Grade 7 students, picked on anyone as their victim.
"When we complained to the school manaagement we were told to leave him and his friends alone," he said.
Gave him a pair of black eyes
But, finally, after nearly a year of living in fear, the children couldn't take it anymore.
On Thursday, they got together to defend themselves and, small and fearful though they must have been, they taught the bully a lesson and gave him a pair of black eyes to remember them by.
But, he complained to the cops, who came along and took the smaller boys out of the classroom, put them in a police van and drove them to Langlaagte police cells.
Then, they had to appear in Johannesburg magistrate's court on charges of assault.
The mother of one of them said: "My child's complaints were ignored and, when they defended themselves, they were arrested and treated like criminals.
"The school did not even call us to tell us our children had been arrested," she said.
Colin Ferley, another parent, was shocked to find his 11-year-old son was locked up at the police station.
"How on earth do you put a baby in jail for standing up to a bully? The police just forced the boys into the cells without asking what really happened," he fumed.
Johannesburg police superintendent Chris Wilken said although the children had been arrested, and detained at the police cells, they were put in a cell separate from adults.
Their parents were called after the documents were processed and the children were released into their parents' care," he said.
When the boys appeared in court, the State withdrew the charges against them and the magistrate sent them home.
- Daily Sun