A tuition teacher has pleaded guilty to slapping a talkative student at a tutorial center in 2018, causing his eardrum to rupture.
Appearing at the Kowloon City Magistrates Courts on Monday, Li Hong admitted to slapping his 10-year-old student at a Yau Ma Tei tutorial center two years ago in October, HK01 reported.
49-year-old Li, however, denied a charge that he also hit the boy between the dates of Sept. 28 and Oct. 29, also in 2018.
According to HK01, Li’s student received lessons at the tutorial center after school every day from Monday to Friday.
Read more: 10 types of teachers you meet in a Hong Kong tuition center
Li said that the student was acting “inappropriately” during a lesson on Oct. 30, 2018 despite multiple warnings. When he hit the side of the student’s face, he ducked, causing the slap to land squarely on his ear.
The boy later told his parents that he was experiencing a ringing from inside his ears, a condition known as tinnitus. He went to see a private clinic and a doctor at Kwong Wah Hospital, and was told that his right eardrum had ruptured.
According to Li, his student was “talking non-stop” and had already received numerous complaints about his behavior.
The case will be tried in April 2021.
