Incident happened after police checked on group of 40 students and adults protesting outside Tai Po secondary school on Tuesday
Students of Kau Yan College, which the injured pupil attends, at a class boycott on Wednesday. Students at Confucian Tai Shing Ho Kwok Pui Chun College (HKPC) in Tai Po want school managers to apologise what they claim was the suppression of their class boycott, after a boy was injured running away from police.
The injured pupil, who lost two front teeth, required seven stitches after Tuesday’s incident, said a students’ concern group. The boy, who attends the neighbouring Kau Yan College, was still in hospital, the group said in an Instagram post.
In photos and videos circulated online, the unnamed boy’s chin and hands are seen bleeding after he fell to the ground, when dozens of students who were protesting outside the school’s gates ran and were chased by police. Police denied an officer had tackled the boy, and said the pair fell because the ground was slippery, and that was why the officer had grabbed the boy’s back and then fallen on top of him.
Officers had gone to the school after receiving a noise complaint, police said.
The incident happened as police checked on a group of about 40 students and adults protesting outside HKPC on Tuesday morning, the second day of a class boycott to protest against the now-abandoned extradition bill. The injury further fuelled students’ anger towards the school, after principal Leung Chau-wan reportedly suggested on Monday pupils could be expelled if they took part in the boycott.
The student group accused the school of backtracking on an earlier promise to let students use the broadcast system to announce details of the strike. They also claimed teachers threatened to call the parents of students who wanted to skip classes. Some students also complained teachers took the names of students on strike, and restricted their use of the bathroom.
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The school said it would not give the names of demonstrating students to the Education Bureau, and it had not stopped any students from using the toilet. Repeated calls to the school for a comment on the most recent accusations went unanswered.
An intense argument had broken out on Monday evening outside the school, when a group of students and local residents asked the principal to apologise. Witnesses said even though Leung said sorry, some students felt she was insincere. Classes resumed at the school on Wednesday morning, and scores of students wore medical masks and chanted, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” before they entered the school.