A HEARTBROKEN father in Penang, whose daughter lies in a coma after trying to kill herself, has pleaded with the education department to make sure teachers followed the SOP (standard operating procedure) in punishing pupils.

Muniandy Ratnam’s daughter M. Vasanthapiriya, 13, was accused of stealing a teacher’s iPhone 6 at Nibong Tebal’s SMK Methodist last Wednesday.

She attempted to hang herself at home after school that same evening.

Earlier today state education department deputy director Mohd Jamil Mohamed told The Malaysian Insight the department was trying to determine if the SOP was followed in the school.

He said when something is reported stolen from a teacher in schools, the teacher 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.

Muniandy, 54, said he was not making accusations but simply did not want the same thing to happen to another child in the future.

“I am not saying the teachers are wrong. But I advise the department to make sure teachers follow the SOP when they have to solve issues with their students.

“Don’t let something like this happen again. I am only asking for this,” he told reporters at the Seberang Jaya Hospital today after receiving a visit from Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Muniandy said he recounted the incident to Lim.

Vasanthapiriya had insisted she never took her teacher’s phone, but her teacher did not believe her.

She was allegedly questioned by three teachers, hit by one in front of other students, and locked in the teachers’ room for almost five hours.

The accusing teacher and her husband then drove her home after school to report the incident to her parents.

“The teacher reported the incident at school to me. She said the CCTV showed an Indian girl with long hair in the teacher’s room.

“I asked my girl whether she took the phone. She said no.

“I told the teacher to wait a bit and give me time to find out the truth from Vasanthapiriya,” he said.

While he was out with the teacher and her husband to sort things out, Vasanthapiriya hung herself in her room. When her parents returned home later that night, they found her alive but unconscious.

Muniandy said his daughter’s condition was stable but critical.

The family was waiting to get results of her CT scan later tonight, he said.

“All her organs are functioning normally, except for her brain, eyes and limbs.”

Muniandy said Vasanthapiriya, being the youngest of four children, was very close to him.

“I fear losing my child. For almost a week I have not heard her call me ‘papa’. She is very ‘manja’. She always fed me rice at dinner.

“She is like any teenage girl. She wants to look pretty. She will tell me things like how she wants to straighten her hair and dress up prettily for festive celebrations,” he said.

“My wife (A. Malarveily, 51) is the one she goes to for pocket money. She will say all sorts of nice things to her mother. She (Malarveily) is very upset.”

Lim, who gave Muniandy RM1,000 aid, said he sympathised with the family.

“She is a bright and pretty girl. It is very sad that this has happened. I hope the family stays strong,” he said.

“The doctors have done all they can for her. She is breathing through a machine. It is up to her now.”

Lim urged the police and state education department to conduct a full investigation into the incident.

“We need to know what caused the child to do something so drastic,” he said.

The police and the department are investigating the case.

The teacher has since been posted to a desk job at the Southern Seberang Prai district education department office, pending the outcome of the internal investigation by the department. – January 29, 2018.