Students in China beat up teacher after he chokes boy in classroom brawl

A teacher at a secondary school in Anhui, China, had to face the brunt of his students' anger, when they turned on him and beat him.

A video of the incident was widely circulated on Chinese social media and video sharing sites.

In the clip, the teacher is initially seen confronting one student, who appears to refuse to hand over an exam paper. The exchange becomes increasingly heated, and the teacher grabs the student around the neck.

At that point, other students in the classroom got involved, shoving the teacher against a wall and raining punches on him.

But the chaos did not stop there. After the attack stopped, the infuriated teacher once again slapped the boy he was originally grappling with across the face. That triggered the students to once again surround the teacher and resume their attack by throwing punches and kicks at the man. The original student even flings a wooden stool at the teacher.

The same thing happens another two times, with the teacher smacking the boy and re-starting the melee.

At the end of the one-minute clip, the teacher is seen with the top of his shirt undone. He continues to gesture angrily, though it is unclear whether the fighting flared up again.

English-language web portal Shanghaiist reported the school's principal confirmed that the fracas had occurred, and that the incident is being investigated by local authorities.

No injuries were sustained by the teacher or the students, according to online reports.

Reaction on Chinese social media towards the episode has been mixed. The BBC reported that most netizens appear to side with the teacher, calling the students' actions "digusting" and "disrespectful".

However, a number also pointed out that the teacher should not have grabbed the student by the neck.

seanyap@sph.com.sg