Our correspondent reports (reporter Yu Jie): A 3-year-old boy, named Beibei (a pseudonym), has sued the principal of the Yun Gang Street Kindergarten, Zhang Shurong. In the complaint, it is stated that since Beibei started kindergarten, he was almost beaten everyday by Zhang Shurong. "This has caused great psychological trauma to Beibei." Yesterday, when Fengtai Court heard this case, a kindergarten teacher testified for Beibei.
The boy said: "Grandma pinches me"
Yesterday in court, Beibei's mother, Ms. Hou, told the judge that on February 11th, Beibei was sent to Yun Gang Street Kindergarten with a monthly childcare fee of 350 yuan. On March 19th, teacher Xiao Zhou gave her a call saying, "If you have money at home, change kindergartens for your child, because the principal doesn't like your child." She asked Teacher Zhou if the principal had beaten her child, and Teacher Zhou said "a bit."
The next day, Ms. Hou brought Beibei to the kindergarten to go through the procedures for leaving the school. When they got out of the car, Beibei held onto the door tightly and refused to get out. He told his mother, "Grandma (Zhang Shurong) pinches me." After finishing the procedures for leaving the school, Ms. Hou called a teacher at the kindergarten and asked about Beibei's situation there. This teacher's words shocked Ms. Hou greatly. "A week after Beibei enrolled, because he didn't nap at noon and cried a lot, the principal slapped him, almost every day." "The principal hit him in the mouth with a shoe, Beibei's mouth was full of blood. There were also two times when she covered his head with a small blanket, he was suffocating and kicking his legs around." "The principal didn't let us talk, whoever talked would be made miserable by the principal."
After learning about these situations, Ms. Hou's family was very angry and reported to the Yun Gang Police Station on March 25th. The police station investigated this matter.
Principal denies harming the boy
Facing the police investigation, Zhang Shurong denied hitting Beibei, claiming that the injury on his mouth was caused by other children biting him, and the bruises on his body were caused by playing around himself. Beibei's family said that Beibei had bruises on his wrist, leg, and head, often woke up crying in the middle of the night, lost appetite, and became self-isolated. During his birthday, Beibei suddenly started crying and threw the cake on the ground. Sometimes when the phone rang at home, Beibei would grab his grandmother and shout "Report it! Report it! Arrest her! Arrest her!" Ms. Hou took Beibei to the Anding Hospital for a check-up, and the hospital preliminarily diagnosed Beibei with "post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress reaction."
On April 1st, Beibei sued Principal Zhang Shurong, Yun Gang Street Kindergarten, and the Yun Gang Street Community Service Center which "cooperated" with the kindergarten, citing that the above three defendants violated Beibei's "right to life, health, and bodily integrity."
In court yesterday, the lawyer for the Yun Gang Street Community Service Center claimed that they just leased the house and equipment to Yun Gang Street Kindergarten and Zhang Shurong, so they were not related to this case. Zhang Shurong's and Yun Gang Street Kindergarten's lawyer stated that Zhang Shurong never beat Beibei, "What the plaintiff said is completely untrue," and presented two testimonies from kindergarten teachers Xiao Zhou and Xiao Zhang.
Teacher risks career to testify
During the trial, the plaintiff invited witness Teacher Xiao Zhang. Xiao Zhang testified in court that she personally witnessed Zhang Shurong beating Beibei multiple times. After Beibei left the kindergarten, she could no longer bear seeing Beibei being beaten daily, so she defied Principal Zhang Shurong's "gag order" and testified in court. Currently, both her and Teacher Xiao Zhou have resigned from the kindergarten.
"After the incident happened, Zhang Shurong called me into her office and asked me to write materials proving that she did not beat Beibei. The testimony presented by the defendant was written under coercion and is not true," Xiao Zhang said she had also recorded a statement at the Yun Gang Police Station, proving that Zhang Shurong beat Beibei. The judge presented this record in court.
After testifying, Teacher Xiao Zhang requested legal protection, "She (Zhang Shurong) threatened me, if something happens to me after I leave the courtroom, I hope the law can protect me." The judge looked at Xiao Zhang and said, "Don't worry, if you are threatened or harmed, you can tell me or the police directly."
Beibei is seeking compensation from the three defendants for medical expenses and mental damages totaling more than 35,000 yuan. At the end of the trial, the judge asked both sides if they were willing to mediate. "Willing!" the three defendants answered. "Unwilling!" Beibei's parents answered. The verdict was not announced in court.