Outrage after China officials say schoolgirl stabbed 200 times with sewing awl ‘not bullying’

China is outraged after officials in eastern China said that a case in which a boy stabbed his classmate more than 200 times with a sewing awl over three months “did not meet the standards of bullying”.

According to the victim’s parents, their daughter was stabbed in her thigh by a male transfer student at the school in Shandong province, according to the Chinese media outlet Xiaoxiang Morning Herald.

The new student sat next to her in her Primary Six class and jabbed her with the needle of a sewing awl. The needle was about 7 to 8cm long, and he jammed it entirely into her leg, causing muscle injuries.

“It hurt so much, I wanted to die,” the girl said.

The girl revealed that the bullying included more than just sewing awl stabbings; she was also stabbed with a paper cutter, slapped, and forced to eat paper and pencil lead.