TRAUMA: A 15-year-old schoolgirl is in hospital with head injuries after being assaulted in the bus bay at Canobolas Rural Technology High School on Monday afternoon. Photo: JUDE KEOGH 0314canob2
A VICIOUS assault on a 15-year-old schoolgirl in the bus bay at Canobolas Rural Technology High School on Monday afternoon has left the victim in hospital with head injuries and a second female student facing court on serious assault charges.
From her hospital bed, the victim told friends via social media she would have to live with the trauma of the ferocity of the attack for years.
Police say the victim was punched in the head and, as she reeled from the force of the punch, was kneed in the head while she was falling to the ground.
“She was struck again while lying on the ground,” Canobolas Local Area Command Inspector Peter Atkins said.
The victim told her friends she was shocked at the extent of her injuries when she finally looked at herself in a mirror.
“Breaking down in tears after looking at myself in the mirror,” the victim posted on Facebook.
“I don’t deserve what happened and I’m never going to be the same after this.”
The victim said she did not deserve to be bashed and hospitalised over “something another person said on Facebook - its disgusting.”
The victim also said she had undergone tests in hospital to determine the extent of her injuries.
“I never thought this would happen to me and my heart goes out to everyone who has been brutally beaten or bullied like me,” she posted on Facebook.
She told her friends on Facebook violence was not a way to resolve conflict.
“One punch can kill - it was just centimetres away from my temple,” she said.
Police arrested the 14-year-old alleged offender following the attack. She was charged with assault occasional actual bodily harm at Orange Police Station and will face court next month.
The alleged offender has been granted bail under strict conditions imposed by police.
Canobolas Rural Technology High School principal Chad Bliss was unable to comment on the incident, however an Education and Communities spokesman said staff at the school immediately provided first aid and support for the student following the attack.
The spokesman said any student who engaged in violence would be disciplined, including suspension or expulsion, and the school was now involved in following through on that process.
He said schools regularly talked to students about the use of social media, including cyberbullying, exacerbating disputes and interfering with the school’s attempts to resolve issues or support students’ well-being.
“The educative process also makes students aware of the unreliability of much of the information disseminated on Facebook and other social media,” the spokesman said.