Thursday June 29, 2006

Footage shows schoolgirls in a gang-fight

newsdesk@thestar.com.my

MIRI: Video footages showing what appeared to be a beachfront gang-fight here, involving a group of female students in uniforms, have been circulating on mobile phones and posted on the Internet.

They showed a group of girls kicking, slapping, punching and pulling the hair of another female student, watched by a group of male students, also in uniform.

The male students were just standing around watching.

Rumours of the incident spread after some students received the picture messages on their phones that showed girls in school uniforms fighting.

GIRLS TOO?: This undated picture from a video taken from a website shows a secondary school student slapping another girl at a beach in Miri, Sarawak. The video, which also showed the other girls kicking, slapping, punching and pulling the girl’s hair, was first circulated on mobile phones. It could not be immediately confirmed if the girls were just acting or a fight had taken place.

The background in the pictures showed a beach area resembling the one about 2km from the city centre.

A check with the police showed that there was no report of students being assaulted.

SMK Joseph principal Marcus Gauliang said the school had not received any report on the matter and that it could be the work of some students trying to smear the school's image.

“But we will investigate the case if we receive a report,” he said.

Some parents, whose children are studying in schools located in the area, have also heard about the incident.

“Initially, when my son showed me the pictures, I thought it was a joke,” said a father who has a son in school.

“However, my son received a message later from his friend saying that the same footages are being aired over the Internet.

“On closer scrutiny, the footages on the website looked very real. The schoolgirls were filmed in action, with sounds of yelling and struggling.

“The background scene looks like the Miri beachfront,” said the concerned father of four kids.

The girls were speaking in Chinese and their faces could be seen quite clearly.

It is not immediately known which school or schools they are from.

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