Surgery for girl after playground beating

Education officials in Abu Dhabi are probing an incident in which an 11-year-old girl suffered a brain haemorrhage after being beaten up by boys during school break time.

Doctors at Khalifa Hospital have operated on Emirati Lujain Hussein, a Grade 7 student, who was attacked by the group from Grade 4 at a private school.

Lujain’s sister, Mahram, told 7DAYS that her sibling had been playing with the youngsters when she accidentally knocked into one of them. She said: “The boy hit her back and pushed her.”

Mahram added that the boy was then joined by his classmates. They allegedly pushed Lujain to the ground and kicked her repeatedly in the stomach and head.

“Later she was vomiting and sweating and passed out,” said Mahram. Lujain was taken to the school nurse and her father was called and asked to take his daughter home.

However, the youngster continued vomiting so her dad took her to hospital, where doctors said she had suffered a brain haemorrhage.

She underwent an operation to stop the bleeding on Saturday and was kept in the hospital’s intensive care unit for two days.

Mahram said doctors told the family that the operation was complicated given Lujain’s age but her condition was now stable.

Abu Dhabi Education Council confirmed the incident and said that they had received a complaint from the girl’s father and were investigating. Her father has accused the school of negligence and failing to properly inform him of the incident, which happened on Thursday. He also accused staff of not providing enough protection for students in their care.

According to the girl’s family, the school administration office first told Lujain’s father that she had just suffered from exhaustion and needed rest at home.

The school refused to comment when contacted by 7DAYS. The family said they have also reported the matter to police.

ismail@7days.ae