The Niigata Prefecture child consultation center said Wednesday it will take a few weeks to decide how to handle an 11-year-old boy who slashed a schoolmate with a kitchen knife the previous day, inflicting cuts on his right arm and left hand.
Three options are being considered. These include reprimanding him and having a child welfare office monitor him, placing him in a correctional institution or sending him to a family court, according to Akira Suzuki, a manager at the center.
People under age 14 cannot be legally held criminally liable, and the boy cannot be named because he is a minor.
Suzuki said the center, which now has custody of the boy, will reach a conclusion after interviewing his parents and school officials.