BANGKOK – An eighth-grader described as a boy with special needs allegedly stabbed his classmate to death on the morning of Jan 29 over reported bullying, said police and officials of the school in Thailand’s capital city.
The stabbing incident at Nak Nava Upatham School in Soi Patanakarn 26 took place at 8.30am, just after the morning assembly, school staff said.
All classes were cancelled as parents rushed to take their children home after learning about the stabbing on TV.
Bangkok’s Klong Tan Police Station received a report on the fatal stabbing at 8.40am.
Friends of the victim and the attacker told reporters that they saw the victim teasing the boy as they were entering their classroom on the second floor after singing the national anthem at the morning assembly.
The alleged attacker, whom school staff described as normally very quiet, pulled out a fruit knife and stabbed the victim’s neck.
The injured boy then ran downstairs to try to escape, but the attacker ran after him and again stabbed him on the right side of his neck, causing the victim to fall to the floor in the basketball stadium.
School staff rushed to tend to the victim and tried to keep him conscious, while others overpowered the attacker.
Staff said the boy with special needs was mostly quiet, and his classmates often teased him. They also said that the victim was not a close friend of the attacker and that they were still in the dark about what was behind the quarrel.
Poh Teck Tung Foundation rescue staff arrived at the scene but were unable to resuscitate the victim. The boy was then rushed to Vibharam General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The incident prompted Major-General Witthawat Chinkham, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 5, to rush to the scene to personally oversee the investigation.
The alleged attacker was then taken to Klong Tan Police Station for interrogation in the presence of his parents and social workers from the Social Development and Human Security Ministry.
Meanwhile, Amarin TV reported that some parents knew that the alleged attacker was a boy with special needs and had warned their children not to tease or bully him. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
