SEREMBAN, May 22 — A primary school pupil from Seremban was allegedly assaulted by his teacher while another teacher was being probed by police for intentionally hurting a secondary school pupil in Petaling Jaya just days apart.

In the Negri Sembilan incident, Saatish Piraburatnam, 10, was admitted to the Tuanku Jaa’far Hospital last Thursday for severe headache and dizziness after claiming his teacher had slapped him repeatedly with a plastic file earlier in the morning. 

The SK Rahang pupil said he accompanied a classmate to collect examination papers from the staff room and the teacher attacked him as they returned with the file.

Piraburatnam, who suffered swelling on his forehead and face, was discharged from hospital yesterday.

“I don’t know what I did wrong. The teacher just snatched the file from my hand and starting slapping me repeatedly. He also made racist remarks,” he said.

According to Piraburatnam, the teacher then asked him to stop crying by pressing his watch against Piraburatnam’s forehead. He eventually stopped crying when another teacher, who attended the class, later rubbed ointment on his swollen forehead.

“I started feeling dizzy and suffered from severe headache,” he said, adding his friends were also subjected to such abuse by the same teacher in the past.

His parents — Piraburatnam Batumalai, 43, and Umahrani Nadason, 43, — rushed him to the hospital after they were referred there by a general practitioner. They lodged a police report at the Rahang police station last Friday.

Nadason lashed out at the school authorities.

“They (the school authorities) told us to drop the (police) report as it was not a serious case,” he said.

“I’m afraid for my son once he returns to school. How can a teacher to such a thing?”

She claimed three other teachers had visited her son while he was hospitalised and told the family not to press charges as it would destroy the school’s reputation.

The family had sought the help of the Rahang assemblyman Mary Josephine Prittam Singh to take this up with the Education Ministry.

Petaling Jaya police are investigating a secondary school teacher after parents claimed they discovered marks on their 14-year-old son’s body, reports G. Prakash.

Petaling Jaya police chief ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed said police started their probe on May 13 after they received a report from the father, Ahmad Shaifuldin Mahamad Sharudi. 

“We are now recording statements from the relevant parties,” Arjunaidi said. 

Ahmad Shaifuldin had in his report said he confronted the teacher at the school on May 12 — in the presence of other teachers and the headmaster — after discovering marks the day before.

The father claimed the teacher admitted he had caned the pupil for not doing his homework without permission from the headmaster. 

However, the teacher later retracted his statement and told the headmaster he did not punish the pupil. 

The father also claimed the son was canned in March and the school had not notified him. 

The father lodged a police report at Sea Park police station and a forwarded a complaint to the Education Ministry.

Arjunaidi said the case is being investigated under Section 324 of the Penal code for intentionally causing hurt. 

Efforts to obtain comments from the ministry proved futile.