WAS the standard operating procedure followed by a Penang school after a student was accused of stealing her teacher’s handphone?

This is what the Penang Education Department is trying to ascertain as they get to the bottom of the issue which has resulted in the hospitalisation of a Form Two student, who is in critical condition after attempting suicide.

13-year-old M. Vasanthapiriya, a student from Nibong Tebal’s SMK Methodist, was accused by a teacher of stealing the latter’s handphone.

After she denied stealing the device, Vasanthapiriya was allegedly hit by one of the teachers in front of the other students. She was then allegedly locked up a room in the teachers’ office for almost five hours without food or toilet break.

After school, the teacher who lost the phone and her husband threatened to take her to the police if she did not admit to the theft. They then drove her home to confront her parents.

State education department deputy director Mohd Jamil Mohamed told The Malaysian Insight if a teacher had lost something, he or she should report it to the discipline teacher of the school.

“The discipline teacher will then investigate and take action if it is true a student had done something wrong,” Jamil said.

He, however, said investigations are currently underway and would take “a bit of time to give justice to all parties”.

“This will allow us to get accurate information. We don’t know for sure what happened. Whatever action we take will be based on the findings of the investigation.

“As a police report has been made, we are also waiting for the outcome of the police investigation. We are also looking at the student’s condition,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Vasanthapiriya was accused of stealing a teacher’s iPhone 6 at school last Wednesday. She was reportedly questioned by three teachers, including the one who claimed her smartphone was stolen.

After being taken home by the teacher concerned and her husband, where they confronted her parents, Vasanthapiriya locked herself in her room.

Her parents returned home later at night. When Vasanthapiriya did not answer after they called her repeatedly, her father broke into the room and found the teen hanging from a shawl tied to a pipe.

She was still alive when they found her. She reportedly left a suicide note saying she did not steal her teacher’s phone. She also said goodbye to her parents and grandmother.

Vasanthapiriya has been in a coma since the incident. She is now in the Seberang Jaya Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU).

Jamil said the teacher concerned has since been posted to a desk job at the Southern Seberang Prai district education office.

He also said he sympathised with the girl’s family for what they were going through.

“I have spoken with her parents. They are really good and understanding parents. I really sympathise with them.”

Vasanthapiriya’s paternal aunt K. Vinothani, 32, said her brother, a caterer, and sister-in-law, a factory worker, were going through a difficult time.

“They have been outside the ICU. They are there everyday,” she told The Malaysian Insight today.

She is the youngest child in the family, with a sister and two brothers.

“She is a happy, cheerful child. She likes to help people. Since she is the youngest in the family, everyone dotes on her,” Vinothani said.

Meanwhile, the school’s PIBG (parents and teachers’ association) chairman Teoh Seang Hooi said they hoped this incident will not be over-publicised, adding that the main concern now is the girl’s recovery.

The 120-year-old SMK Methodist, located in the Nibong Tebal town, has a student population of over 460. The majority of the students are Indians. – January 29, 2018.