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School bullying in spotlight once again at prestigious private school
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Bullying illustration (Shutterstock/-)
B
INUS private school has been embroiled in controversy once again after another alleged bullying incident at one of its high schools drew widespread attention, including from lawmakers at the House of Representatives.
On Tuesday, House Commission III overseeing home affairs summoned the victim of the alleged bullying incident and his family, representatives from BINUS Simprug campus, a high-end school in South Jakarta, as well as South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Ade Rahmat Idnal.
The open hearing came after video footage went viral on social media showing the victim, identified only as 16 year-old RE, brawling with another student from the high school in a toilet as a few other students watched the incident unfold.
Around the same time, another video circulated widely on social media showing RE giving his account of his alleged months of bullying and stating that he was constantly pressured by a group of students he said were sons of politicians.
During Tuesday’s meeting with lawmakers, RE said that he was bullied by an unnamed “gang of around 20 to 30 students”, led by a student identified only as K.
RE also said that two other students who bullied him, albeit only verbally, told him that one of them was the son of a political party leader and another was the son of an official at the Constitutional Court.
The school’s lawyer Dewi Susanti was present during Tuesday’s meeting with lawmakers. She denied RE’s bullying allegations, saying that the scuffle RE was involved in stemmed from his own idea to hold “a duel” in the presence of a referee.
