Kyrgyz School Death Highlights Bullying Scourge

The death of a schoolboy at the hands of his peers has highlighted the widespread nature of gang culture in Kyrgyzstan’s school system.

The boy, who was in the ninth grade at a village school in Kok-Oy in the Naryn region, was knocked unconscious and later died following a brawl between pupils from his year and those in the 11^th grade.

Police have taken one of the older boys into custody as the principal suspect, although the victim’s mother believes several others were also involved.

Bullying and extortion are endemic in the schools, and nowadays often takes the harder-to-spot form of forcing others to buy something or top up mobile phone, rather than demanding hard cash. 

It is a longstanding problem. Back in 2009, IWPR reported on a case where a pupil’s death led to a trial which focused public attention on the issue.

Mirlan Kadyrov is a journalist in Kyrgyzstan.