LETTER | Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) demands an independent investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators in the case of an 11-year-old student being made to stand under the hot sun.

This resulted in the pupil suffering from heat exhaustion, and subsequent nerve damage which has rendered the previously healthy child disabled.

The teacher who committed the crime, and all others who failed to stop this action and possibly similar crimes in the past despite knowing, including the headmaster must be investigated, and prosecuted. Disciplinary measures alone are simply not acceptable when such crimes against children are committed.

Malaysia, during this heat spell this year, has had about 45 cases of heatstroke, including two deaths, reported so far this year, said health director-general Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan.

He said most of the cases involved those who suffered from heat exhaustion (Free Malaysia Today, April 14, 2024). The last death was on April 1, 2024.

It makes it even more shocking that a child was punished by standing under the sun for several hours at this time.

What transpired

On April 30, an 11-year-old student and three others were punished by their teacher who made them stand under the blazing sun.

While three others were let off earlier, this particular child was made to stand under the sun from 10am to 12.50pm.

He was later rushed to the hospital, and the doctors ascertained that he had suffered from heat exhaustion, and he was also diagnosed with a nerve condition because of the heatstroke.

After that, the child’s condition deteriorated, with the mother explaining that her son used to often play with his siblings but now, he hides a lot and talks to himself.

“The hospital informed me that I can’t send my son to a regular school anymore because of his health issues.

“They say I have to send him to a school for special needs children now,“ the child’s mother said, as reported by The Sun Daily.

On June 7, the hospital classified the child as a person with disabilities.

The “thin skull” rule (or eggshell skull rule) legal rule states that even if injury or death is not reasonably foreseeable the law still considers the defendant liable if the victim suffered from some physical or mental condition.

It does not matter if other 11-year-old children subjected to the same kind of torture, would not have suffered the same consequences as our victim here.

Hence, the teacher and all others who were accomplices will be criminally liable for what happened to this child. What was done to the other the children was also criminal, even if they did not suffer from heat stroke.

Protecting the perpetrator

It is sad to note that the police and the state may be acting to protect the perpetrators, one of whom is a government teacher and a government school.

On March 25, Ampang Jaya district police chief Mohd Azam Ismail said that investigations revealed the suspect, a local male teacher, 37, had punished the victim along with three other friends for 10 minutes of the punishment.

This is contrary to earlier reports that the child was made to stand under the sun for two to three hours. Would the child have suffered from heat exhaustion? Time under the sun may be irrelevant as the fact is the boy suffered from heat stroke, nerve damage and is now classified as a disabled person.

The Malaysian Insight reported yesterday that police were trying to establish if the boy was disabled prior to the incident.

If true, why are the police doing this? They must focus on the crime and investigation of the suspect. In any event, even if the child was a person with disabilities before the incident, it can be said to be a failure of the government to identify this earlier with regard to students under their care.

It certainly does not absolve the teacher of the crime.

Probe must be just

Madpet hopes that the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators of this crime is done justly, and is not affected by external factors like poverty, political connection, protection of the state and/or its employees, ethnicity, religion, etc.

It must be noted that in the past when it comes to public officers, Malaysia has been slow to charge government employees in court for a criminal offence, even after recommendations that this be done with regard certain officers after the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission and/or Suhakam so recommends after a full inquiry, and this has happened in several death in custody and enforced disappearance cases before.

Transparency – no more keeping secret Rules/circulars concerning schools/students.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek reportedly said appropriate action would be taken based on the investigation report from the authorities, and that schools are advised to always adhere to the current student management guidelines in force.

The one fundamental problem that exists is that these guidelines and professional circulars are not publicly available or easily assessed. Parents and students certainly have a right to know what teachers/schools can or cannot do with regard to students including permissible punishments.

This is important so that parents and students will be able to highlight when these rules are broken, something they cannot do if they do not know about these rules.

End “secrecy” behind Education Ministry’s guidelines, rules and professional circulars, especially those that deal with students. In the name of transparency, they must be open to the public and made available on the ministry’s website.

Parents and students have a right to know, and such documents should never be classified as “official secrets”. Parents and students are more likely to report non-compliance of a teacher, rather than fellow teachers and headmasters.

No cover-up

Disclose what actions taken by the ministry, there is no need to wait for police action.

Fadhlina must be more transparent as to what has been done with the relevant ministry’s own enforcement authorities. Have the alleged perpetrator/s been investigated and what are the ministry’s findings?

Has the said teacher been suspended? She does not have to wait for the police and prosecution to complete their investigation and charge the perpetrator.

When a crime against a child has been committed, disciplinary punishment like warnings, transfers and/or fines are unjustly inadequate, and what we need is for the perpetrator/s to be charged in court.

It is more so in this case where the victim child, who had aspirations to be a police officer, has now become a person with a disability and will most likely not be able to pursue the dream.

Similar incidents may have occurred in the past too. The ministry must investigate and disclose this. Action must be taken against all perpetrator teachers who punished or tortured students in the past. Investigate all schools, and no “cover-up” please.

What has MOE done?

While waiting for the police and prosecutor to act, Madpet wants the ministry to disclose what action has been taken about this case that happened more than a month ago, on April 30.

It seems that the minister is yet to even visit the victim, and yet to provide any temporary financial assistance. There are also no reports of the minister apologising to the child victim, his parents and Malaysians for the wrong done by a teacher under her ministry.

Remember, Fadhlina’s priority must be on the children under the care of the ministry, not the protection of teachers or the state.

Does the minister, in this case, advocate criminal prosecution or merely just some disciplinary measures? Madpet and everyone else would like to know.

Suhakam and the Children’s Commissioner should immediately inquire into this case, without waiting for a complaint to be lodged.

Recommendations

Madpet makes the following calls:

• An independent and professional investigation into this crime, and for a speedy prosecution of the teacher who committed this offence, and also all other teachers and headmasters that knew of the crime but chose to do nothing;

• An immediate public disclosure on its website by the Education Ministry and/or the government of all rules, regulations, circulars and notes that sets out what should and should not be done to students by teachers or the school, including punishment. Then, the people will know, and non-compliance will be brought to notice of the ministry by students, their parents or others;

• Fadhlina must immediately conduct a comprehensive investigation on schools and educational institutions to ensure that the “torture” of students by teachers is not occurring in any form. It is wrong to wait until such rights violations result in children or young persons suffering and becoming persons of disability before the ministry acts. Prevention should be prioritised;

• Fadhlina must publicly apologise to the student victim and his family, as the punishment is wrong and the violation of human rights is indisputable; and

• Malaysia to forthwith ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol.

The writer is a spokesperson for the group Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.