IPOH, July 2 — A schoolboy here has confessed to ingesting a herbicide, police said when refuting the youth’s claim to have been forced to drink the deadly poison in a school here.
Ipoh police chief Asst.Comm Mohd Ali Tamby said the third former told investigators nobody had made him consume the substance.
“Instead, he admitted that he drank the liquid himself after finding the bottle in a washroom, before throwing the bottle away,” Mohd Ali said in a statement today.
Mohd Ali said the 15-year-old victim’s father was told on June 28 that his son had been attacked from behind at a school washroom, before being forced to drink Paraquat.
At the time, the boy alleged he was accosted by a male assailant who when forcibly poured the liquid down his throat.
The boy then purported to have escaped, before returning to his classroom where he began vomiting and was subsequently sent to a hospital.
Ali said doctors confirmed that Paraquat was consumed by the boy, although police were not able to find any containers at the scene with traces of the poison.
“The victim’s statement was questionable, and on June 30 he admitted there was no suspect who forcibly poured the liquid in his mouth,” Mohd Ali said.
“He then said he didn’t want to tell his family the truth as he was scared about getting scolded.”
Mohd Ali added that there were no witnesses or surveillance footage of the scene.
The boy also informed police that he has no relationship problems, family issues, or any grudges and enmity with any one at his school.
The boy was still being treated at hospital but was stable, said Mohd Ali.
In the days following the alleged incident, videos and messages of the incident were circulated extensively on social media.
Mohd Ali said the boy’s family has asked the original publisher of the video to take it down.
