KUALA LUMPUR – The family of the Year 5 pupil who suffered a heatstroke after allegedly being forced to stand in the hot sun for nearly three hours will file a suit against the teacher responsible and the school’s headmaster, said the family’s lawyer, Dinesh Muthal.
Dinesh stated that the suit, which is expected to be filed by the end of the month, seeks damages for the 11-year-old boy’s health.
He said the child, now declared a person with disabilities, suffered a severe heatstroke as a result of the punishment.
The lawyer said medical assessments indicate that the student has developed significant health issues, including weakening nerves and intellectual disability, following the incident on April 30.
Dinesh noted that the current investigating officer, a sergeant, is allegedly attempting to misrepresent the boy’s disability as pre-existing.
Prior to the incident, teachers had informed the parents that the boy struggled with proficiency in Malay, affecting his understanding of the subjects.
However, Dinesh argued that the boy’s average grades contradicted any claim of a pre-existing disability.
He said the teacher’s actions violated the Education Ministry’s Professional Circular Letter (SPI) Bil. 7/1995, which outlines procedures for imposing actions and punishment on students and explicitly states that punishing students in the hot sun is considered equivalent to “torture”.
“Even if the allegations of a pre-existing disability are true, the boy’s B40 household status means the family couldn’t afford private healthcare to diagnose the condition earlier. In that case, the school neglected the child for four years,” Dinesh said.
“Regardless of when the disability arose, the teacher has already violated the ministry’s circular on punishment. The boy is now suffering from post-incident trauma.”
Suresh Balakrishna, 40, the boy’s father, reported that his son now experiences frequent headaches, talks to himself, isolates himself, and avoids social interaction with his siblings.
According to the lawyer’s account, the incident began during a mathematics period when the teacher left the class unattended to do gardening.
The boy was playing with water bottles with three classmates when he was struck by one. Upon the teacher’s return, he punished all four by making them stand outside in the sun, the lawyer said.
After 10 to 20 minutes, he allowed the others back inside but left the boy outside until school ended at 12.50pm. The boy remained unnoticed by the Bahasa Malaysia teacher during the last period.
Feeling unwell after returning home, the boy told his mother, A.D. Mogahana Selvi, 35, about the incident.
Too weak to bathe himself, his mother assisted him. He skipped lunch and later cried to his mother, complaining of a severe headache and feeling excessively warm.
At Ampang Hospital, he vomited, fainted, and foamed at the mouth in the emergency division. The doctor diagnosed heat exhaustion with a body temperature reaching 40°C and advised that the boy be transferred to a special school due to his new disability status.
The incident has also taken a toll on the boy’s mother, who is three months pregnant. She was hospitalised due to not eating well from worry over her son. – June 8, 2024