Taichung prosecutors are investigating the case of a seven-year-old boy who is in a deep coma after his judo instructor allegedly threw him to the ground 27 times during training on Wednesday.
The instructor, surnamed Ho (何), was initially released without bail yesterday, after prosecutors questioned him and reviewed video footage, they said.
The boy’s father, surnamed Huang (黃), decried the decision, saying that Ho should be detained because he “deliberately killed a helpless child.”
Later last night, Ho was detained after prosecutors conducted another round of questioning.
Footage from the judo gym shows Ho and others repeatedly performing a shoulder throw on the boy, despite him being unable to stand and begging them to stop.
Prosecutors cited Ho as saying that “it was a normal judo lesson. We did not use inappropriate force and had no idea that he sustained grave injuries.”
A doctor at a hospital to which the boy was admitted on Friday said that he was unconscious upon arrival, and had seizures.
The boy also had cerebral hemorrhaging, which made emergency surgery necessary, the doctor said, adding that he is in intensive care and has unstable vital signs.
He is in a near brain-dead condition, the doctor said.
The boy’s parents have requested charges against Ho for negligence resulting in injuries, prosecutors said.
The Chinese Taipei Judo Federation, the sport’s national governing body, said that Ho does not have a license issued by the federation or any other qualification to teach judo.
It said that the footage showed Ho engaging in exercises that are “definitely … not the way to teach children.”
The federation has regulations concerning the use of force to the neck and head of children “to ensure safety and protect the trainees,” it said, urging parents to only send their children to gyms that follow the regulations and have qualified staff.
The federation has been accused of not doing enough to ensure the quality of judo training and was criticized that it took two days for it to respond to the incident.
The federation said it would increase inspections at gyms, and offer better and more selective training programs for instructors.
The instructor has allegedly been teaching children for 10 years.
This story has been updated since it was first published.
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