An eight year-old Hebei boy was beaten to death by a group of eleven students because they were “bored”, reports the Dahe Report. Local police say the motive appears to be “entertainment” by the group of children who were looking for something to do.

The boy, Xiaohua, was lured away by a group of other children to a cornfield far removed from Baishu village at around 4pm on June 28. There, he was physically beaten by the group, the youngest of which is only ten years-old.

Xiaohui died on June 30 from his head injuries. He never regained consciousness from the beating.

Li Fu, the principal at the Baishu Central Elementary School that Xiaohui and several suspects attend, said that relations between students at the school are very good. Li also pointed out that because the incident happened off campus, the murder has nothing to do with school despite being the place where the victim and the suspects met.

However, village sources say that Xiaohui was constantly bullied, particularly by a fifth-grade student named Dongdong. Xiaohui was reportedly forced to steal from his family, a fact confirmed by his father, Zhang. On the other hand, Dongdong was well-liked by most of the students at the school because he would treat them to food provided by his family.

Xiaohui had reportedly said he was willing to go along with the group, so long as they “didn’t beat him”.

Xiaohui is survived by his mother who abandoned him at six years-old because of financial reasons, his father who was working in another location at the time of the murder, and his 75 year-old maternal grandfather who was looking after him.

Photos: Southern Daily Report