Jiangyou bullying incident and protests
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In the summer of 2025, a female student was beaten by her schoolmates off campus in the city of Jiangyou in Sichuan, China. A video clip of the bullying circulated online and drew nationwide attention. The perpetrators were eventually punished. The authorities' handling of the case however was perceived as being too lenient, leading to protests that were subsequently suppressed and information about them censored. The incident sparked discussion in China about underage offenders.
Bullying incident
On July 22, 2025, a 14-year-old female student was bullied by three of her female schoolmates in a vacant building off-campus, receiving slaps, kicks, and hits with an object.[1][3] Her mobile phone and items of clothing were also removed during the prolonged confrontation.[4] The bullies dismissed her warning that her father would report the matter to the police and flouted having been to the local station previously without suffering any long-term consequence. After seeking medical attention for their daughter, the victim's parents, who have disabilities, reported the incident to the police later that night, and two of the perpetrators were summoned by police around midnight. On August 2, a video recording of the incident began circulating online. The next day, following procedures to assess injuries one to two weeks after the initial trauma, a physician re-evaluated the victim, ruling out occult fracture and concluding that the bruises to her scalp and knees were "minor". From July 24 to August 3, the police summoned and began investigating all individuals involved.[5][6]
August 4 announcement and protests
On August 4, the Jiangyou Municipal Public Security Bureau made its first public announcement regarding the case, but it was perceived to have downplayed the severity of the matter.[6][5] The victim's parents and a crowd of supporters entered the municipal building demanding justice for the daughter. The parents kowtowed before an official, and members of the public expressed anger at the case's handling.[7] More and more people gathered outside government buildings and on the streets late into the night.[8] They sang the national anthem. Some of them yelled slogans such as "punish the perpetrators severely", "say no to bullying", "return democracy to us", and "Chinese Communist Party (CCP) step down!"[4] Local and nearby police forces were deployed to control and disperse the protesters using pepper spray and tear gas. Demonstrators were seen being dragged away or struck with batons.[2][1] According to one witness, at least eight individuals were arrested.[7] Information about the protests has been censored in China after briefly trending on Weibo.[4][9][7]
Punishments
According to police statements on the afternoon of August 4, of the three bullies, the 15-year-old was detained for 13 days and fined 1,000 CNY. The 14-year-old was detained for 10 days and fined 800 CNY. The third perpetrator, being under the age of 14, had her legal guardians reprimanded.[6] According to reports, this was not the first time that the group had bullied their victim.[10][3] Jiangyou police said that one of them had been investigated by the station previously, on one occasion, and that the case was delayed because of the many individuals involved and the need for medical assessments.[6][5]