A father from Larnaca has claimed that school bullying is the cause behind his son having been hospitalised last week.
The boy required surgery after being cut by glass which appears to have been sourced from a glass door which shattered on Wednesday, with two arteries and a tendon in one of his hands having been damaged in the incident.
He was first taken to the Larnaca general hospital before being transferred to the Nicosia general hospital due to the seriousness of his condition. He underwent surgery and was kept in intensive care, before being discharged on Saturday.
It has been reported that the father has either claimed his son was attempting to help a friend who was being bullied or was himself the victim of bullying.
After the boy had been discharged from hospital, the family made an official complaint about the incident to the police.
They reported that there was no teacher at the scene when the incident occurred, and also raised questions about the glass in the door.
Larnaca police representative Spyros Chrysostomou told the Cyprus News Agency that the boy had been asked to provide a videotaped statement to the police, and that it is expected that the family will facilitate this happening within the next few days.
“It is expected that the child will give us a full account of events, including what happened and what led to the injury,” Chrysostomou said.
He added that the education ministry and the child which the school attends were both informed about the father’s complaint.
The education ministry’s educational psychology service head Erni Sismani described the incident as “very serious” and said the ministry and the other competent authorities are conducting investigations into it.
“This is a very delicate matter and should be treated with the requisite seriousness by all involved,” she added.
She went on to say that the educational psychology service had not been previously informed of such incidents occurring at the school in question, but that a full investigation will be conducted.
She added that her service is “at the disposal of both the family and the child if they need us for any kind of support”.
