His grandfather, Jim Allison, was first to arrive at the school after the incident.
"[Krishnan] didn't know me for a start. He didn't know where he was, he was very disoriented," he told Newshub.
Te Kauwhata College principal Deborah Hohneck said it had been a game between friends which went too far.
"Some boys were slapping Krishnan around, he was laughing and joining in with the game initially but it was obviously more painful than the boys realised and it got worse," she told Newshub.
Ms Hohneck said the school took bullying seriously, and the pupils involved had been stood down for two days. They would also receive counselling.