Three 7-year-old boys from Southwest China's Yunnan Province allegedly sexually assaulted 23 of their classmates, news website thepaper.cn reported Monday.

However, the local education bureau in Longling county said Monday it was not sexual assault, adding that the three children "acted as doctors doing physical examinations on 13 boys and 10 girls."  Such "examinations" happened three times.

The vulvas of four girls were inflamed and one of them was diagnosed with a ruptured hymen and the condition of six other students remains unknown, according to the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University. The Baoshan city bureau of education has urged the primary school, the only such school in Longling, to immediately look into the case. The provincial Women's Federation also said Monday they would closely follow this issue. All 26 students involved in the case are under 7 years old, which has triggered discussions on whether the boys' behavior should be considered "sexual assault."

One of the victims, Tongtong, said she was accosted in the classroom by the three boys who used fingers and sticks to touch her private parts eight times between May and June during weekday noon breaks.

"An abuser called Longlong pressed my arms and another one called Tiantian assaulted me. Qiangqiang held me back from escaping," she said. Two of the three boys were class monitors.

Four "docile" students, who also allegedly suffered similar assaults like Tongtong, were waiting outside the classroom when Tongtong was attacked. "They used a thin stick to play with them," Tongtong said. Tongtong's father, Tian Pan, found out after a while, although Tongtong was ashamed to tell her father.

Another victim named Weiwei was allegedly abused three times before evening self-study time every Sunday. The students suffered from the assaults for one month, the website reported.  It added the boys come from poor families. 

There was a 30-square-meter room on the first floor of a building where the assaults took place, while the teachers' offices are on the third floor.  

Many students told thepaper.cn they could not see teachers during breaks, and even in the canteen at lunch. Peng Xiaohui of the Central China Normal University said the boys probably did it out of curiosity, which cannot be classified as "sexual assault." Gao Wei, head of the Yunnan University Law School, disagrees, although he said there may be a legal loophole.

"As a legal guardian of the three children, their parents are liable and might have to pay compensation," he said.