NO COVER-UP
PE T ALI NG J AYA: The Education Ministry yesterday assured the family of M. Vasanthapiriya, 14, that there would be no cover-ups with regard to the investigations into her death.
The schoolgirl, who was in a coma, succumbed to her injuries early yesterday – a week after she tried to hang herself over accusations that she had stolen a teacher’s smartphone.
Deputy Education Minister I Datuk P. Kamalanathan (pix) said the ministry will give its full cooperation to the police and that investigations are already under way.
“The t r agic l oss of l i f e i s something that haunts me. For someone so young to take such a dramatic step and end her life is heart breaking,” he said via SMS.
“I would like to offer my heartfelt condolence to the family for this unimaginable tragedy.”
While the teacher in question has been transferred to the district education department, Kamalanathan said the ministry will prioritise the case and wants justice and enoughenough done without fear or favour.
The Form Two student hanged herself last Wednesday (Jan 24) after she was accused by four teachers of stealing a smartphone from one of them in school.
She had been in the intensive care unit of Seberang Jaya Hospital for the last eight days after she was found barely alive by her father in her bedroom with a handwritten suicide note which read: “Teacher, I did not take your phone.”
She also bade farewell to her parents and grandmother in her note before tying herself to a steel rod in her bedroom.
She had apparently decided to hang herself while her teacher was discussing the alleged theft with her parents at their home.
Seberang Perai municipal councillor M. Satees told theSun Vasanthapiriya’s blood pressure and pulse started to drop on Thursday night.
He said it stabilised but the girl’s father, however, was informed by doctors that they had to turn off the life support as her brain stopped responding at 3am. She died half an hour later.
The incident drew the ire of
Malaysian Tamilar Kural president David Marshel, who has been following up the case since it happened, urged the police and the state education department to swiftly act on the matter.
He said nothing has been heard from the investigators and the department while police seemed slow in reacting to the situation.
“This is not a suicide,” he told a press conference outside the Seberang Jaya Hospital’s mortuary where the family of Vasanthapiriya had gathered to wait for the outcome of a post-mortem.
Her father R. Muniandy said he is yet to come to terms with the loss. netizens and politicians, with many clamouring for justice, due to the circumstances that led to her death.
Many expressed their dissatisfaction after the Education Ministry merely transferred the teacher to the district education department pending investigations.
One Facebook user, Sarguna Arumugam, said: “Rest in peace sister. The teacher should be punished severely. Not to be hidden in office.”
Another Facebook user, Nur Syahadah Lan Syahadah, called on the authorities to take severe action against the teacher. She also hoped the girl’s family would remain strong and calm.
Facebook user Yee Fong said: “Teachers who have committed wrongdoings (are) always transferred to another school only. Why aren’t they sacked ?
“Legal action must be taken against this teacher and the school for falsely accusing her, causing her death.”