The Malaysian Insight

THE religious teacher of a tahfiz school in Shah Alam said he was forced to beat a 13-year-old student because he was acting aggressively.

Muhd Muzamil Muzakir Kahamuzaka, 21, who joined Darul Tahfiz Ummul Qura three weeks ago, said the student had been unhappy at being punished for going late to the surau.

“He challenged me to a fight but I said there was no reason to fight him. I then caned him on the arm and he reacted aggressively, forcing me to punch him three times in the eyes, twice on the cheeks. And then I tried to pin him to the ground,” he told The Malaysian Insight, adding that the student had also incited his school mates to beat Muzamil on the night of the incident. 

Harian Metro today reported that the student had been questioned about a “personal matter” by a school warden, who beat him with a cane when he denied any wrongdoing.

The student was injured in the ribs and arms. His father lodged a report at the police station in Section 9, Shah Alam.

Shah Alam police have since interviewed four people in the case under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.

Muzamil, who is a former student of the school, confirmed that police had questioned him at 2am last Thursday. 

Muzamil said the other teachers were also aware of the student’s disciplinary problems. He said he had been informed that the student, who had started school there this year, had also tried to run away.

He said the student’s behaviour could be due to stress at being made to go to school there.

He said parents were wrong to think they could send their unruly children to a tahfiz school to learn discipline.

“I don’t agree that badly-behaved kids should be enrolled in tahfiz. Parents think that tahfiz schools are like rehabilitation centres. They should have sent (their children) to rehabilitation school,” he said.

The school principal Abd Rasul Rahman, meanwhile, said the teachers were not authorised to take physical action against the students, even if the students were at fault.

“We don’t allow the ustaz to beat the students like that here. Any corporal punishment must be referred to the principal,” he said, adding that the school would wait for the results of the investigation before dismissing Muzamil. 

It has been less than a month since the death of 11-year-old Mohamed Thaqif Amin Mohd Gadaffi, who had been beaten with a rubber hose by the assistant warden in a tahfiz school. – May 17, 2017.