GEORGE TOWN, Feb 13 — Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan was taken to task today by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for revealing M.Vasanthapiriya had a record of self-harm, which her family had since denied.
Guan Eng said the deputy minister should go for counselling on how to handle cases like these, since he did not realise it was a wrong move to announce such sensitive information to the public.
“How can he talk like this? It is worse when what he said was not true. Even if it is true, he should not talk like this, it is cruel and malicious,” he said in a press conference today before handing over RM2,000 to Vasanthapiriya’s father, R. Muniandy.
He said the authorities must empathise and sympathise with the family who has lost a loved one instead of looking for faults and blaming the deceased student.
“She was only 14 years old and what Kamalanathan said was irresponsible, cruel and the family is hurt by this,” he said.
Guan Eng added the family is going through a difficult time dealing with their loss so they should be given support.
Yesterday, Kamalanathan reportedly said that Vasanthapiriya had slit her wrist two years ago — a claim her father denied.
Kamalanathan had also claimed that Vasanthapiriya’s family was advised to seek medical help for the student but they did not do so.
Vasanthapiriya attempted suicide by hanging herself in her room last month after she was accused of stealing her teacher’s handphone.
She died on February 1, a week after the suicide attempt.
Her family had demanded that authorities investigate the events leading up to her death as the student had also left a suicide note denying that she stolen the handphone.
