A seven-year-old boy died after he was slammed 27 times during a judo practice class. The boy, who was only identified by his family name Huang, was rushed to Feng Yuan Hospital in central Taichung city on April 21 after the incident was reported. He had been in a coma for 70 days with brain haemorrhages and developed respiratory problems as well as multiple organ failure before his parents decided to take him off life support on Tuesday, a hospital official told AFP. His coach, identified by his surname Ho, was indicted earlier this month on charges of inflicting severe injuries on children and using children to commit a crime, prosecutors said in a statement.
It was later found that the coach was unlicensed. The coach instructed other children to practise with Huang even when the boy was not familiar with basic judo movements, and he started to use several throwing techniques on the child after he said "the coach is a big idiot", according to the statement. The boy complained of a bad headache but Ho proceeded to throw him a dozen more times that caused him to vomit, it added. The coach did not stop until Huang collapsed unconscious on the floor, prosecutors said. They also said his head repeatedly hit the floor but did not specify how many times. The boy's uncle reportedly attended the class but failed to stop the coach. "Wish you can rest in peace in another world and the justice system can finally bring comfort to your family," Taichung city mayor Lu Shiow-yen, who visited the boy in hospital, said in a post on her Facebook page. Others called for harsher action to be taken against the coach and for compensation to be given to the boy's parents.