Victim in hospital but 20 school bullies go scot-free

Bullying incident in school buried, apparently to protect future of the 20 bullies.

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PETALING JAYA: No action has been taken against 20 students who severely beat up a 14-year-old boy from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sri Pantai near here.

The victim of bullying, Muhammad Syazwan Zolkifle, has been in and out of the University Malaya Medical Centre here, after he suffered broken bones and lost control of his bowel movements.

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar expressed shock that the authorities and school had not taken any action against the bullies.

“Schools are supposed to be a place where parents can feel safe about sending their children,” she told reporters today at the Kompleks Wanita dan Kanak-Kanak lobby of the hospital here.

“Apparently, taking care of the school’s image is more important to this school than ensuring that a safe environment exists.”

Syazwan’s sister, Nor Syahirah, who was present, revealed the incident occurred in September but the police report was only filed in November.

“He has always been a quiet boy and he didn’t tell any of us what happened to him.

“But I noticed that he seemed to be in a lot of pain and confronted him about it. That is when he finally told the truth and we immediately filed a police report. That was in November.”

According to the police report, five out of the 20 students attacked Syazwan merely to show off their strength and dominance while the others gathered around and watched.

She said police soon closed the case citing the fact that the perpetrators were still children.

“Apparently, they didn’t want to take action or send these kids to a correctional school because it would destroy their future. But what about my brother?”

After Syazwan’s family transferred him to SMK Bangsar, Syahirah posted her displeasure over the previous school’s inaction over her brother’s plight on her Facebook account.

She said the investigating officer (IO) took her to task for her post after the officer apparently received complaints from the school.

“The IO scolded me and told me that I shouldn’t have put the story up on social media.”

Nurul Izzah said the next step was to wait for the results of the endoscopy on the boy and then for them to seek legal advice on the matter.

“Since the police have closed the case, we need to see what else we can do.

“It is terrible that such a good boy, who loves history and Bahasa Malaysia, may have to face the rest of his life physically handicapped at the tender age of 15, nauzubillah (God forbid).

“We’re praying for the best.”

Attempts to contact SMK Sri Pantai’s headmaster were unsuccessful.

Brickfields OCPD Asst Comm Shahrul Othman said he will investigate the matter. -FMT