KUALA LUMPUR – The teacher, who allegedly ordered a disabled Year 5 pupil to stand under the hot sun for hours, should be sacked as he lacks the mental capacity to teach children, said lawyer Dinesh Muthal.
Dinesh, who is representing the victim’s family, told Scoop that a memorandum had been sent to urge the Education Ministry to terminate the teacher and to take action against the head teacher, who allegedly hid certain details during the investigations.
The other matters highlighted in the memorandum were to revamp the appointment of teachers based on their mental capacity and improve student safety in the school.
Dinesh said the memorandum had been sent to the Attorney-General’s Chambers to expedite the probe seeing it had been more than a month since it began.
“The teacher is still on duty. The witnesses are still having to face him for more than a month in the school. Even when the investigation was going on, he was still teaching.”
Another memorandum will be sent to Bukit Aman tomorrow to urge for the current investigating officer (IO) to be changed.
He said police should appoint an IO who is an inspector instead of a sergeant to the case.
“The way she (the current IO) is doing the investigation is not right. The report was done on April 3. There was no progress until we made a report at the integrity and standards compliance department.
“She even continued to investigate after Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the probe was completed.
“After the boy’s discharge, the IO brought the mother, the victim, the suspect and also the witnesses to the headmaster’s room to inquire about the case.
“The witnesses should be protected since they are children. She should be talking to the witnesses separately.”
When asked about the 11-year-old victim’s health condition, Dinesh said the boy could not recognise his family after being discharged from hospital on May 2 and still showed signs of trauma.
He added that the boy was also a victim of bullying in his school for years but no actions were taken by the authorities.
The incident does not just affect the victim but also his 35-year-old mother, A.D. Mogahana Selvi, who is three-months pregnant, said the lawyer.
He said she was taken to hospital as she had not been eating well due to worrying about her son.
The lawyer added that a suit would be filed against the teacher and the school by the end of this month. – June 5, 2024