Family of bully victim demands justice, wants perps expelled from MCKK

 

The family of a bully victim urges the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) to take strong action against a group of school seniors who allegedly caused serious injuries to the Form 4 student in September.

This comes after the premier residential secondary school allegedly tried to sweep the incident under the carpet and only handed punishment the family believed was not commensurate with their offence.

A family member, who wished not to be named, said the victim sustained multiple injuries, including to his private part in the Sept 24 incident, which landed him in the hospital.

This happened during a purported hazing session by a group of Form 5 students against their Form 4 juniors, which she claimed was organised by the seniors to "instil discipline".

"The perpetrators admitted during a meeting session attended by parents and the school administrator that they were upset with the behaviour of Form 4 students.

"They said that Form 4 students were 'melampau' (gone overboard) by not turning up for 'prep' and failing to tuck in their shirts, among others.

"So, they wanted to address the problem, we were told," claimed the family member.

The victim, she said, was sent to the Kuala Kangsar Hospital at about 3am after one of his seniors did a 'rugby tackle' before several others started kicking and punching him.

His family found out about the incident when the school warden called to seek permission to send the victim to the hospital.

However, while on their way from Kuala Lumpur, the parents received another call from the hospital saying the victim had to be transferred to Taiping Hospital due to the seriousness of his injuries.

He was later transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital as per his parents’ request.

'Political connection'

To add to the family’s frustration, the school decided to discipline the perpetrators with only several strokes of the rotan and made them promise to behave.

"The perpetrators were not even suspended," she said, adding that the family has nothing against the school, but was upset with how its administrators handled the case.

Citing fear for the safety of the victim and other students, the family expressed hope that the attacker would be expelled or at least transferred to another school.

She also claimed there was an attempt by the school and its Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to cover up the case.

This, she alleged, was due to the main perpetrator being the son of a PTA committee member.

She claimed that the family of the boy who did the 'rugby tackle' has a strong political connection "up to the top" but declined to elaborate.

Malaysiakini has not been able to independently verify the accusations and has sent requests for comments to the school administration and the Education Ministry.

An aide to Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said she could not issue any comment as the case is under police investigation but is checking whether the relevant departments have launched an internal investigation.

Malaysiakini is also trying to reach the "well-connected" family of the PTA member, whose son was allegedly involved in the attack.

On Sunday, MCKK PTA issued a statement, slamming the student’s family for making the issue viral.

In a statement, the PTA said the student's family should not have posted about the case on social media, causing it to go viral and impact the school's reputation.

It was understood that the case is also under police investigation.

Kuala Kangsar district police chief Omar Bakhtiar Yaacob in a statement on Saturday said they have opened an investigation under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt. - Mkini