KOTA KINABALU, Sept 23 — Photos of a primary schoolboy with a patch of blood on his head, allegedly taken after he was abused by a teacher, has been circulating on social media, inciting anger from local residents who want the teacher involved to be punished.

The photos, being shared on social media like Facebook and WhatsApp yesterday and today claim the boy, Vincent Alfonskia from SK Kitobu in Inanam, some 15km from here, was “slapped, ear pulled, and had his head smashed on a table” by his teacher.

According to the victim’s father, Alfonskia Petrus, who lodged a police report this morning, the headmaster of the school called him at 11am saying his son was being treated at the hospital and had received three stitches.

The injuries were the result of a Bahasa Malaysia teacher punishing the pupil for not finishing his homework.

Sabah Education Department director Datuk Jame Alip said claims that the teacher had abused the pupil were false and denied any wrongdoing on the teacher’s part.  

“After personally investigating the matter at the school and speaking to the teacher and the victim’s classmates, we found that the teacher was holding the boy’s ear but he tried to pull away, causing him to lose balance and accidentally knocked his head on the table,” said Jame.  

He added that the victim’s parents had “accepted our explanation”.

“All teachers in the state are trained to be disciplined and professional when dealing with pupils. Social media claims of abuse to the boy are completely unfounded.

“The teacher was very apologetic, she cried and told me she didn’t intend to hurt the victim. She didn’t even realise he was hurt until today,” he said adding that he had verbally warned the teacher to be careful in the future.

Jame said the case was considered closed.

Inanam State Assemblyman YB Dr Roland Chia who visited the parents and the student said untoward incidents like this should not happen, as primary students should not be disciplined through violence due to their young age.

“They should be sent for counselling with regards to their reasons of them unable to complete their homework. Incidents like these could be a deterrent for rural students to continue their education. This will result in failure to bring human capital development to the rural areas,” he said in a statement.