A teen, M. Vasanthapirya, accused of stealing a teacher’s iPhone attempted suicide and passed away after rushed to hospital still alive but died suffering from a brain injury.
Doctors told family members that the child had suffered a brain injury after she passed away at the Seberang Jaya Hospital on 24 January where she was rushed to after she was found hanging in her room.
The sad incident is the result of the child being accused of stealing a teacher’s mobile phone, which she denied.
The girl’s suicide letter read: “I did not steal your phone, teacher.”
Facebook users commenting on the 14-year-old Penang girl death said they were saddened that this could have happened.
A Facebook user from Brunei said commented that the Indian girl passed away due to complications after attempted suicide because she was accused of stealing her teacher’s iPhone which turned out to have been misplaced at a restaurant.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we now live in a horrifying world whereby the value of a smartphone seems greater than the value of the human heart. Mankind, how the hell did we get here?”
The message said this did not happen in Brunei, “but I speak for better treatment of minorities in all parts of the world. We need to learn to love and embrace one another, not divide ourselves due to the colours of our skin or our beliefs. #justiceforvasanthapriya,”
New Strait Times said that the Education Department and the police were slammed by a member of her family for not investigating the teacher who accused the girl of stealing her iPhone.
The teen attended SMK Methodist Nibong Tebal and was a Form Two student, she was to be reprimanded in front of other students by the teacher who had her phone missing.
Pending for investigations, the teacher that was involved in this was recently posted to a desk job in the southern Seberang Prai district education office.
Another Facebook user said: ‘Rip little angel. We believe you”
“She deserves justice. Not just hukuman tukar jabatan/tukar sekolah (justice by changing department or changing school) for those cruel teachers.”
There has been several cases in Malaysia where teachers accused of bullying their students were simply transferred to desk jobs, or to other schools without any further sanctions meted against them.
It was reported that the girl was kept in a room for around 5 hours and then was sent home by the teacher trying to solve this matter by confronting the girl’s parents.
One of the girl’s siblings found her hanged in her room.
By the time she was found she was still alive but unconscious and was sent to the hospital with the hopes of recovery.