LABUAN: Labuan Women’s Affairs Association (Hawa) Chief Fauziah Datuk Din said Sekolah Menegah Agama Tun Datuk Mustapha officials found to be responsible or negligent in their duties in connection with the death of 13-year-old Zara Quairini Mahathir should be sacked or resign.
She said many are asking why if it was a case of death due to bullying the investigations have not yielded any answers even after two weeks.
“Now there are suggestions that she may have fallen off the third floor dormitory when she was found unconscious in the drain at 3am.
“Her mother said she saw no injuries on her face that would support such theory of a fall and that the school knew her daughter was being sexually harassed.”
The women’s activist said violent misconduct in schools may diminish the public’s confidence in the Ministry’s ability to manage juvenile delinquency and this would not reflect well on the Ministry.
She welcomed the assurance by the Sabah Education Department that the three suspects identified have not been transferred to other schools.
“Transferring them will mean transferring the problem to another school and will be unfair to parents of students in the recipient schools as well as the parents of Zara who expect justice and closure,” said Fauziah.
Fauziah noted that in Zara’s case the element of transparency and fairness appears missing going by the mother’s claim that Zara was buried with no post mortem done and revelation that the school actually prevented her from lodging a report.
“What is the Education Minister’s response to such breach of conduct? If true, the school must be held accountable for taking matters into their own hands as a warning to others,” she said.
She said attempts to contact the school to know more were met with a response that the principal was away attending a course.
Another activist Hj Abdul Jalil Gani said any delay would only prolong the pain, trauma and grief of her parents, relatives and friends.
“It’s not acceptable for the Education Minister to repeatedly give assurances that the death is being investigated.
“Why give assurance after assurance? Just say what happened and why the Ministry has failed in so many instances, some of which ended up as murder cases as in Lahad Datu.”
Jalil said he was not implying anything except bringing to the attention that thousands of parents are concerned and mentally troubled as they have children staying in dormitories and hostels.
Jalil concurred with Sabah Umno Wanita Chief Datuk Noraini that bullying should be viewed as a crime and not one of indiscipline to curb the continuing trend of bullying despite various measures taken by the Ministry of Education.
He also noted that bullying only comes to light when it becomes viral in social media.
“More stringent measures need to be put in place to act as deterrent. The public must know what action is taken against the school principals or students involved,” said Jalil.
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