A 13-year-old girl in Australia was allegedly brutally attacked by other teenage girls after they lured her to a fake slumber party.
The victim went to a home in Tewantin, in Queensland, eastern Australia, where she believed she would have a sleepover with friends on Saturday, March 11, it has been reported.
Queensland police said she was prevented from leaving the home and was filmed as she was cut with a knife, assaulted and taunted over several hours.
Videos and still images that show parts of the alleged attack have been widely circulated online.
One clip, seen by 7News, that was shared online featured a girl who spoke to the camera and allegedly said: "We basically just tortured someone."
She later allegedly added: "We were just like torturing her for at least four hours straight."
Queensland police apprehended three girls aged 12, 13, and 14, and charged them with a string of offenses.
Police said the 14-year-old was charged with four counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, assault occasioning bodily whilst armed in company, deprivation of liberty, enter dwelling and commit indictable offence, armed robbery whilst in company used personal violence, enter premises and commit indictable offence, and wilful damage. She was remanded in custody and is due in Maroochydore Children's Court again next month.
The 12-year-old was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, assault occasioning bodily harm whilst armed in company, deprivation of liberty, armed robbery in company with personal violence, entering dwelling and commit an indictable offence, and unauthorized dealing with shop goods. The 13-year-old faces the same charges as well as common assault. They are next due in Maroochydore Children's Court this month.
Police have appealed to the public not to share any photos or videos of the attack "out of respect for the victim" and not to add to the notoriety of the people involved.
Queensland Police Service said the investigation is ongoing.
According to 2017 statistics by the AMAYDA bullying prevention program,
there were 962,305 bullied children across more than 3.8 million schools in Australia that year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said "bullying is common" and widespread across the U.S.
It added: "About one in five high school students reported being bullied on school property. More than one in six high school students reported being bullied electronically in the last year."
The CDC continued: "About 30 percent of female high school students experienced bullying at school or electronically in the last year, compared to about 19% of males."
Newsweek has contacted the Queensland Police Service for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
");jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrK6enZtjsLC5jq2cnqZdl7KiwMSnZJqro5bCrcDEnWSkppmbsm60zq6prGWRm8GmvoyfmKSdXaWus8DYZqCnrpmpsm59lnFwbWxi