A young girl sent to a kung fu school to lose weight dropped dead less than 48 hours after arriving. Six-year-old Deng Qi's dad waved goodbye to his "happy" daughter as she embarked on her first day at the school. But less than two days later he received a call saying she had collapsed and been pronounced dead after failing to respond to treatment. The youngster's family allege she was bullied to death at the famous Shaolin Xiaolong Kung Fu School, which she enrolled at on April 7. Her father said she had been "healthy and happy" when he dropped her off on her first day."The next we saw our daughter was at 7 or 8pm [on 9th April] in the mortuary," he sobbed. He added: "Her face was purple and there was bruising on her stomach from having been kicked."CCTV footage he obtained from the school allegedly shows Deng Qi being surrounded by several uniformed pupils, who her father claims punched and kicked her. He said: "The camera was very far away from our daughter, but it looks like someone pushes her over and then kicks and punches her."The video shows several of the pupils later carrying Deng Qi down a grandstand to the school nurse. The martial arts school has strongly denied the allegations of bullying leading to Deng Qi's death. They have confirmed that the Dengfeng Public Security Bureau is currently investigating the case but released their own statement, threatening media outlets running the Deng family's opinions on the pupils tragic death. The statement - issued by their director, surnamed Chen, on 14th April - claims Deng Qi "collapsed while playing", calling all other theories "libellous rumours".It revealed that the schoolgirl was sent to the kung fu school for exercise because she weighed over 50 kilogrammes (110 lb /7th 8 ) and had trouble walking as a result. The school said there was "no evidence" to suggest Deng Qi had been beaten to death, and that she had not had any physical altercations with any of her classmates. The institution added finally that it "reserved the right to take legal action" against media outlets which suggest otherwise and continue to cause "great loss to the school's reputation and income".The boarding school, which charged her parents 21,000 RMB (£2,390) per year, is located in the county-level city of Dengfeng in Central China's Henan Province.
It is where the original Shaolin Monastery is believed to have been founded in the 5th century AD.
The school is one a commercial offshoot of the Shaolin Temple - itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010 - and the girl's parents sent her there "for some exercise" on the recommendation of a neighbour.