An 11-year-old student in Selangor reportedly suffered from nerve damage after his teacher allegedly made him stand under the scorching hot sun as punishment.
According to New Strait Times (NST), the boy’s mother, 34-year-old Mogahana Selvi, claimed that his teacher made him stand on the field from 10am to 12:50pm on April 30 with three other students after he complained that a classmate had hit him with a water bottle.
“My son complained to the teacher that he was dizzy (while he stood under the sun) but the complaint was ignored,” Ms Selvi told Harian Metro.
Recounting the events, Ms Selvi said that when she came to pick up her son from school, she noticed that he appeared weak and his eyes had become red.
Her son also requested to be taken to the hospital as he felt unwell. Upon arriving at Ampang Hospital’s emergency room, her son fainted.
Initial reports indicated that her son collapsed due to heat exhaustion, but during a press conference on Saturday (May 29), Ms. Selvi disclosed that her son had also suffered nerve damage.
She shared the distressing change in her son’s behavior, mentioning that he now isolates himself from the family and often mumbles to himself, unlike his previous playful demeanor.
“It’s painful for me not to see him in his previous playful and cheerful state,” said Ms. Selvi.
Their family’s spokesman, S Dayalan, also said during the press conference that the student would be unable to go back to school due to his disability.
“The parents have filled up a form provided by the hospital for their son to be recognised as an OKU (refers to the people with disability in Malaysia)” he said.
“They will then bring the letter to the social welfare department to obtain the OKU card.”
While Ms Selvi had taken initial actions, such as publicizing the incident on her Facebook, filing a police complaint against the teacher, and urging the Education Ministry to take action, Free Malaysia Today reports that the teacher has not been arrested.
Consequently, the family’s lawyer, Dinesh Muthal, announced their intention to sue the school for the suffering the boy experienced.
“In other cases, charges can be filed in just a week. This case is straightforward, but it has already been a month,” he said. “What are the authorities doing?”
Police investigations reveal student was punished for only 10 minutes, not two hours
As per Bernama, a news outlet in Malaysia, Ampayang Jaya district police chief ACP Mohd Azam Ismail said that the teacher had punished the student for only 10 minutes and not two hours, as his mother had claimed.
Ismail also announced on Tuesday (May 25) that their investigations, conducted under Section 31(1) of the Child Act 2001, have concluded. They have subsequently referred the case to the Selangor public prosecutor’s office for further action.
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