The death of an Egyptian student after she was subjected to bullying sparked widespread debate about the need to combat this dangerous phenomenon in schools.
And the student in the first secondary grade, Rodina Osama, died after her classmates bullied her at her school located in the Haram area in Giza.
And according to “The Seventh Day” newspaper, according to eyewitnesses and members of the Rodina family, the deceased left the school to her home in a state of collapse, and told her sister what happened inside the school on the part of her classmates, to suddenly fall to the ground and die.
According to the deceased’s father, a verbal altercation took place between his daughter and her classmates, who wrote their names on her seat in the classroom, deliberately harassing her.
He added that one of them mocked the appearance of Rodina, who was also bullied by the same student, who told her on one occasion: “You are not of our level to play with us.”
Sources at the Ministry of Education and Technical Education said that the ministry is conducting an investigation into the incident as soon as a complaint is officially received, Youm7 reported.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Education in Egypt had launched, in cooperation with UNICEF and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, a campaign entitled “I am against bullying” with the aim of combating the “bullying phenomenon” among school students.
The amendments approved by the House of Representatives, last September, to the Penal Code also specified a definition of the word “bullying”, in Article 309 bis of the Penal Code.
And Article 309 of the law defines the concept of bullying as every saying or display of the power or control of the perpetrator or exploiting the weakness of the victim, or a situation that the perpetrator believes offends the victim, such as gender, race, religion, physical descriptions, health or mental condition, or social level, with intent Intimidating the victim, putting him in a position of ridicule, degrading him, or excluding him from his social environment, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued Law No. 189 of 2020 amending some provisions of the Penal Code promulgated by Law No. 58 of 1937, after the approval of the House of Representatives.
According to the new amendment approved by Sisi, the punishment for bullying has been tightened by approving imprisonment for a period of no less than 6 months, and a fine of no less than 10,000 pounds and no more than 30,000 pounds, or one of these two penalties.