Student's fracture worsens after 'ketuk ketampi' punishment

The knee fracture of a Standard Five student in Tanah Merah, Kelantan allegedly got worse after his teacher made him do “ketuk ketampi” (squats) as punishment for missing school.

School authorities have apologised to the family but the student is said to be traumatised and scared of going back to school.

The boy initially fractured his knee three months ago when he fell while playing football, said his mother, who only wanted to be known as Azlina.

The 36-year-old mother said a private clinic doctor then advised her son not to perform any strenuous physical activities.

“He also missed many classes due to his injury. I also updated his teachers on his condition,” she said, as reported by the New Straits Times today.

On Jan 8, when the boy missed school again due to diarrhoea, Azlina said she informed the teachers in a WhatsApp group.

“However, my son and several other students were summoned the next day for missing school. They were ordered to do squats 30 times as a form of punishment,” she said.

As her son was still healing from his knee fracture, he was not able to complete the punishments and complained of suffering from pain.

Azlina claimed the teacher ignored the boy and instead accused him of lying and punched him in the chest.

The family later received a phone call from the school later that day around 10.30am, where they were asked to bring the boy home after he complained of pain in his knee.

The student was in such bad shape that his grandfather who went to fetch him had to carry him to the motorcycle.

“Later that night, he complained of more pain and I wanted to bring him to the hospital.

“However, the school authorities asked me to postpone the visit as he had an exam coming up.

“Soon after, a representative from the school came to apologise and admitted they had been too rough with him. They also handed over a sum of money as a form of contribution,” she said.

Azlina said she later brought her son to the Tanah Merah Hospital on Jan 22 where the doctors then referred them to the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital in Kota Bharu where he had to undergo surgery.

The mother said she would lodge a police report soon over this incident to prepare for any possibility.

This is after she heard some claim the school was not to blame for the incident – something which has left her disappointed, she said.

“It’s just a way of safeguarding our interests and it is not to land anyone in trouble. We were made to understand that the teacher in question has been transferred to another primary school in the district,” she said. - Mkini