Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has urged the public and authorities to play their respective roles in addressing sexual crimes, especially cases involving minors.
This came amid criticism that the Education Ministry had failed to act decisively in an alleged rape case involving a primary school teacher and his female student in Johor.
In a Facebook post, Fadhlina said police have taken over the case and arrested the male teacher, while the victim is under the care of the Welfare Department.
"The public is urged to come forward to report cases involving alleged sexual crimes to the authorities. The authorities must also take immediate action by investigating these complaints, especially when they involve minors.
"As members of the society, there is a shared responsibility to continue reminding all parties of their duty to keep protecting children," she stressed.
The statement came hours after social media influencer Fadli Salleh took to Facebook about the Johor incident, which he said happened last year.
It was understood that the victim had acted strangely in school, prompting the school's administrator to investigate. Later, they learned that a 28-year-old teacher had allegedly raped her.
Reports lodged, thwarted by victim’s mom
Following this, the school head teacher lodged two police reports against the alleged rapist, but this was allegedly thwarted when the victim's mother lodged a counter report urging the authorities not to take any action against the perpetrator.
According to Fadli's post, the mother, in her Nov 24 report, told the police that the alleged perpetrator had promised to marry the victim when she turned 18.
"But what was really shocking was the action of the Pasir Gudang district education office. It instructed the teacher to return to teaching for the 2026 school session.
"So now the teacher is back on duty as if nothing happened," he claimed.
Fadli, who is also a former teacher, threatened to expose details of the people involved in handling the case if no action is taken against the teacher.
Suspect nabbed
Following this, the Johor police said they arrested a suspect to facilitate the investigation.
According to Johor police acting chief Hoo Chuan Huat, the victim's mother lodged a report last night after the case went viral on Facebook.
"She informed the police that the incident happened in the Seri Alam area in 2025. Following this, a team of police officers from the Seri Alam district police headquarters arrested one suspect at about 10.30pm," Berita Harian quoted him as saying.
Hoo said the case is being investigated under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act.
Meanwhile, the Johor Education Department, in a statement, said it would not compromise on any sexual wrongdoing and pledged strong action against those found guilty.
It also urged the police to conduct a thorough and professional investigation into the case so legal action can be taken if there is evidence of wrongdoing.
Five counts of sexual abuse
The latest case comes to light following another reported on Wednesday, in which a female teacher was charged at the Seremban Sessions Court with five counts of sexual abuse involving her 14-year-old male pupil, allegedly committed since last year.
Berita Harian reported that the accused, Nurul Asyikin Sutan Shahril, 42, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
According to three separate charges, the accused allegedly committed physical sexual abuse against the victim, with whom she had a position of trust as his class teacher.
The offences reportedly happened under a tree in front of the Arowana Seremban 2 Apartment Park and at a house in Taman Nusa Intan between Sept 12, 2025 and April 7, 2026.
The report said that Nurul Asyikin was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (Act 792), read together with Section 16 of the same Act, and punishable under those provisions.
The accused was also charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code, read together with Section 16 of Act 792. She faces a maximum of 20 years in jail and whipping.
For offences under Section 16, she is liable to a maximum of five years’ imprisonment and not less than two strokes of the cane.
For two other charges, the accused was alleged to have committed non-physical sexual abuse against the same victim, respectively by sending images of her private parts via WhatsApp for sexual purposes and by inducing the victim to send similar images, between Sept 13, 2025 and April 10, 2026, in a flat unit in Seremban 2.
For these offences, she was charged under Sections 15(a)(i) and 15(a)(ii) of Act 792, read together with Section 16 of the same Act. It carries a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine not exceeding RM20,000. - Mkini
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