Family members are outraged after police arrested a 55-pound 11-year-old girl when they responded to a fight between her and another student on a bus.

According to The Philly Inquirer, the Chester Community Charter School fifth-grader only identified as Zakiyah was arrested by Darby Borough police, put in handcuffs, transported in a police van and held in a juvenile holding area. Her mother, Jawania Browne, was not notified about the arrest and had to search for her daughter.

Prior to last week's arrest, Zakiyah was in counseling to get help with some emotional issues that caused her to have nightmares.

"I never thought that I had to give my 11-year-old ‘the police talk,’” Browne said. “I was thinking more so my son, and he’s only 1. But as he grows up, I was thinking that I’ve got to really drill it into my son – but not my daughter. But I guess none of us are exempt.”

Photo: Philly.com

Details about what caused the fight has not been fully released. Zakiyah told NBC Philadelphia that she was defending herself from bullying. She fears that if she returns to school that it will happen again.

Police have released very little about why she was arrested and not the other child involved.

“She was being processed because she committed an aggressive assault against another person,” Chief Robert Smythe said. “We had her in custody for 57 minutes. It’s not like we put her in a cell and held her for hours. … There are police policies that we try to follow. If you are in custody, you are in handcuffs. That’s the policy.”

Chester Community Charter School

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