A teenager in the city of Malang, East Java lost his finger to amputation on Tuesday after he was allegedly bullied by seven of his schoolmates.
The news received nationwide attention after a distressing video of the teenager, who is identified as a junior high school student with the initials MS, crying on a hospital bed over his badly bruised right hand went hugely viral.
“His [middle finger] was no longer functioning, so eventually we were told that it had to be amputated,” Taufik, MS’ uncle, told reporters on Tuesday.
Taufik added that MS, who is a quiet boy, did not tell his family that he was being bullied until the pain from his injuries became unbearable.
Police in Malang are carrying out an investigation into the alleged bullying, including by questioning the seven alleged culprits, who are MS’ schoolmates.
According to reports, the seven boys violently assaulted MS, including by repeatedly picking him up and slamming him on the floor and stepping on his hands. The boys confessed as much to the police, but said they were only playing around with MS.
The school and the Malang Education Agency denied that MS’ injuries were the result of violent bullying on account of their belief that the seven alleged culprits are good students.
The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) criticized the educators’ perceived failure to provide adequate protection to children from bullying.
“According to [the alleged culprits], the violent act against MS was a way of joking around, not bullying. Bullying or not, it should be the victim who decides, not the culprit,” KPAI Commissioner Retno Listyarti wrote in a statement.
Retno also lamented the fact that the school and the Malang Education Agency only learned about MS’ alleged bullying after the story made headlines in the region and nationally.
Should the alleged culprits be charged with assault, KPAI says it will ensure that they be tried as minors and receive the applicable leniencies as required by law.
