Teacher-student sodomy case genuine — Fatimah

KUCHING: Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah has confirmed that the case of a teacher who allegedly sodomised a 14-year-old student was genuine.

She said medical reports have shown that there was penetration at the anus of the victim.

“And the teacher had admitted to doing that to the student, though he claimed that it was consensual,” Fatimah told The Borneo Post yesterday.

Fatimah, however, pointed out that regardless whether the student consented to the act or not, it was still a statutory rape case as the student is a minor.

“The teacher can be considered a pedophile. He started raping him since 2015 when the student was still in primary school. The act continued until recently when the student is already in secondary school,” said Fatimah.

Fatimah described the incident as another sad case where a teacher, who is an authoritative figure as well as a figure of trust, turned to harm the very student he was supposed to protect.

“It is like a father raping his daughter. To the students, a teacher is someone whom they trust and who should have protected them.”

“Yet, this teacher breached the trust and broke the confidence and was causing harm to the student,” said Fatimah.

She said the police is now gathering evidence and once they have enough, the teacher will be charged.

Fatimah said such cases are what those involved in education are trying to prevent by carrying out very stringent recruitment process.

“If only we could sieve them out during the recruitment process. However, this has proven to be hard. These predators can be anywhere.

“They hide their sexual inclination. They have multiple personalities and may appear to be trustworthy and understanding.

“This particular teacher was actually classified as a high-performing teacher. Who would have thought that he is a pedophile?” said Fatimah.

Fatimah was responding to the sodomy case in Mukah where the victim confided to another teacher that the 42-year-old suspect had been sodomising him at different locations including the teachers’ quarters, a budget hotel in Sibu, as well as a residential place in Kemuyang.

The student claimed he was sodomised at least 50 times over the past two years, beginning in 2015 when he was still a Primary 6 pupil.