The police have opened an investigation against a special education teacher in Penang for allegedly abusing a 7-year-old autistic child by twisting her ears until they turned blue-black.
On social media, pictures of the child’s bruised ears have also gone viral with a Facebook user, who shared the pictures, claiming that the child suffered the injuries after attending a school in Permatang Pauh, Seberang Perai.
According to FMT, the child’s mother lodged a police report on the same day (19 July) around 9.30 am. The child was later sent to Bukit Mertajam Hospital for treatment.
Central Seberang Prai OCPD Asst Comm Tan Cheng San said the case is being investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.
Meanwhile, according to a post on Autisme Malaysia Facebook page, the child’s mother claimed that this was not the first time the teacher abused her child but the second.
On the other hand, the teacher is said to have accused the child of being overly active and behaving aggressively in class. As a result, the teacher twisted the child’s ears as punishment.
At the same time, the teacher also allegedly blamed understaffing at the school for their abusive method to control the child.
Parents’ fault?
Responding to the incident, the school authorities did not apologised but belittled and blamed the parents for not bringing up their child properly.
They even told the parents that they are wasting their time and effort by sending their child to school.
However, the parents claimed that they had never received complaints from other teachers that their child is aggressive. Instead, they were told their child is actually doing well in school.
“The family is upset. They were told during a meeting with the school that it was the child’s fault that the teacher took such action. And the school even belittled the family for not monitoring the child’s development. Really? Can the school give such answers? This is an autistic child,” the post reads.
Meanwhile, Tan said the investigations are still ongoing and the police urge the people to stop making the incident viral as it could cause confusion and anxiety among the people.
