Three teenagers have been indicted on charges of threatening and assaulting a fellow middle school student in front of a group of onlookers. Police initially referred the case to prosecutors as the work of a single attacker, but two accomplices emerged during supplementary investigation by prosecutors.
The Women and Children Crime Investigation Division of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office said on the 16th that it had indicted three 15-year-old girls, identified as A, B and C, on charges of aggravated bodily injury without detention. The three are accused of threatening and assaulting a 14-year-old victim, identified as D, on Feb. 25, causing injuries including a concussion.
According to prosecutors, A summoned D after hearing that D had spoken ill of her, then brought 15 companions to the scene to intimidate her. B is accused of demanding that D say she agreed to a so-called "yacha rule" fight and filming the exchange on video to deter D from calling police. C was found to have assaulted D one-sidedly, causing injuries. The yacha rule, which has spread rapidly among students in recent months, refers to a no-rules bare-knuckle fight without protective gear.
Busan's Saha Police Station initially referred the case to prosecutors as C's sole offense. Prosecutors requested supplementary investigation to book accomplices after the victim pleaded that there were "accomplices who instigated and egged on the assault." Police, however, responded with findings stating that C had acted on her own despite attempts by A and B to stop her.
Prosecutors then took over the investigation directly and found that an audio file the victim had secretly recorded at the scene and submitted to police was missing from the case file. They obtained the recording again. The file reportedly captured A boasting that the companions at the scene were her friends as she threatened D, and B saying that filming a video showing consent to a fight would shield them from punishment.
Based on D's additional testimony and the recording, prosecutors concluded that the case was one of aggravated bodily injury led by A, with B and C taking part.
The investigation also confirmed that D had been disciplined as a perpetrator of school violence. Prosecutors said D was treated as a party to mutual assault after A and the others gave false statements to a school violence review committee, which had not been given the video of the beating. Prosecutors advised D on procedures for inspecting and copying the full video and for appealing the school violence ruling based on newly discovered evidence.
The yacha rule has been spreading among young people as a form of play culture. With elementary, middle and high school students alike proposing fights by saying "let's go yacha," the practice is being abused to justify school violence. The rule reportedly carries a condition that participants will not pursue civil or criminal claims over injuries, leaving some victims reluctant to report even serious harm.
