Politicians and authorities have waded into the uproar caused by the appearance of a three-minute video clip posted on Facebook showing a secondary school girl being bullied by her classmates.
Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong today ordered a 14-day suspension for the four girl bullies and ordered them to undergo counselling.
As for the victim, who is repeatedly hit, choked and has her hair pulled and cut in the video, Wee has asked for her to be transferred.
“After assessing the condition of the victim, it is appropriate for her to be transferred to SMK keperluan khas (secondary school for children of special needs) nearby,” he posted on his Twitter account today.
The clip was first uploaded on Facebook last Friday afternoon, removed and then re-uploaded on Saturday.
The bullies are clearly aware that their actions are being recorded as they direct the cameraman to focus on the victim and jeeringly say, “One, two, three, action!” before they attack the victim.
The incident occurred at SMK Raja Abdullah, Kepong, in Kuala Lumpur. It is also learned that there were four bullies at the scene when the video was recorded with a phone camera.
In his statement, Wee reminded schools to enforce the ruling to ban handphones from school.
“They must conduct spot-checks to ensure the ruling is adhered to,” he added.
Meanwhile, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng will visit the victim in Jinjang Selatan with church volunteers on Wednesday.
He has said he wants to know the cause of the bullying before knowing what kind of assistance to offer.
Lim attempted to visit the victim today, who stays in a wooden house, but the girl was taken away by two men to meet Wee when Lim was talking to her.
CJMY
Jimmy Tan
