The Daegu District Court sentenced the two, both 15-years-old, to imprisonment of three and a half years and three years, respectively, adding their prison terms could be reduced by one year depending on their behavior while in prison.
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"Given that they, being yet immature, have a chance of reforming themselves, their prison terms will be enforced flexibly," Judge Yang Ji-jeong said.
The death of the bullied boy, who was in the same class as the two convicted students, drew heavy attention from the public as well as the education industry and led to police and prosecutors' heightened efforts to crack down on rampant school bullying and hazing.
After months of repeated beating and insults, the bullied student jumped from an apartment building to his death in December, identifying his assailants in a suicide note.
"The defendants bullied the student, who was relatively weaker than them, repeatedly for a sustained period of time," the judge said. Their actions included taking turns beating the victim, interrupting his study and forcing him to immerse his face in a sink of water and to eat biscuits from the ground, the judge said.
The insults and harassment destroyed the victim's everyday life and devastated his spirit, the judge said.
"Prison sentences are inevitable for the defendants as the court cannot deal loosely with them given the dire reality of rampant school violence and (their actions) were reprehensible," the judge also said.
Earlier this month, the parents of the bullied student, both school teachers, filed a damages suit against their son's school, head teacher, principal and the parents of the convicted students.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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