Teacher 'bullied' Malaysian teen who hanged herself, says parents' group

KUALA LUMPUR — The teacher who accused a 13-year-old Malaysian girl of stealing her handphone abused her position by threatening the Form Two student and locking her in a room for hours, leading to the girl's suicide, did not follow standard operating procedure (SOP), Malaysian Health Minister S. Subramaniam has said.

"We cannot have a situation in the school system where something like this can happen," he said on Thursday (Feb 1) when visiting M. Vasanthapiriya's grieving family in Kampung Tonghai in Nibong Tebal.

"It goes back to the school system and the procedures for dealing with situations involving students. Schools have SOP to follow. If the procedures are observed, such incidents can be avoided."

Dr Subramaniam said teachers would have to deal with disciplinary problems but there were proper ways to address them. "There cannot be situations where teachers become the police or investigator. If the situation goes overboard, we are left facing such a situation," he said.

He said schools have counselling teachers and cautioned teachers to be alert when dealing with adolescent students. "At this age, students experience high pressure and stress. They respond to situations differently."

Dr Subramaniam said he hoped the tragedy would serve as a lesson. "Today we lost a 13-year-old girl over reasons we are not sure of. Something like this should not have happened," he said.

Vasanthapiriya's father Muniandy Ratnam, 54, said he was not blaming anyone, but hoped schools would follow SOP when dealing with students.

He also said he had not thought about the next course of action.

"We are getting ready for the funeral, which is tomorrow at 1pm, We still have prayers to conduct.

"During this time, thinking about what we will do next is not good for my daughter," he said.

The teacher abused her position by threatening the student and locking her in a room for hours, leading to the girl's suicide, parent groups have said.

The groups also believe that the teenager's death could have been prevented had the teacher followed the SOP for disciplinary cases in schools.

"In these circumstances, the teacher had taken the law into her own hands and this is dangerous not only for the students but teachers as well," Parent Action Group for Education chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim told The Malay Mail Online.

Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie) chairman Mak Chee Kin agreed with Ms Noor Azimah, adding that the teacher had acted against the school's standard operating procedure by detaining M. Vasanthapiriya for hours before taking her home to see her parents.

"It was not right. It was obvious that the teacher and her husband had abused their power by intentionally detaining her for so many hours," he told The Malay Mail Online.

Mr Mak said the teacher could have informed the disciplinary teacher, and let the latter investigate the matter.

He labelled the teacher's actions as "bullying a defenceless student", and called for the teacher to be suspended.

National Union of the Teaching Profession president Kamarozaman Abdul Razak said that the school should have immediately informed M. Vasanthapiriya's parents of the case.

"If the parents are unavailable, then the Parent-Teacher Association of the school steps in," he said.

"If that does not work, then the district education department gets involved followed by the police when required, this is usually reserved for heavy offences involving drugs and gangsterism," he added.

M. Vasanthapiriya passed away at about 3.30am on Thursday (Feb 1), a week after she was found barely breathing in her room after an attempted suicide.

She was in a coma for the past week in the Seberang Jaya Hospital and did not regain consciousness before passing away.

A teacher in her school, SMK Methodist Nibong Tebal, had allegedly accused the Form Two student of stealing her handphone on Jan 24.

The teenager had denied stealing the handphone. The same evening, when her father was out, she hanged herself in her room.

She left a suicide note denying the handphone theft allegations and told her parents that no one should be held responsible for her suicide as it was her decision to do so. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE, THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT