THE 17-year-old student who recently went public about a male teacher and his rape joke had no intention of tarnishing the image of the school but had wanted to correct the inappropriate situation, said her father.

Saiful Nizam Abdul Wahab said, however, that his daughter Ain Husniza is now the target of constant criticism by other male students via Twitter.

She received a rape threat from a schoolmate on Twitter, and Saiful lodged a police report on it, but he said the taunts have not stopped.

“Ain still wants to go to that school because her intention was not to punish the school but correct the situation,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“My daughter did not go to school today on the advice of several parties.

Ain on Saturday claimed that a male teacher, in a Kuala Selangor school, had made a joke about rape during a physical education and health class where students discussed sexual harassment on Friday, sparking widespread outrage on social media.

Ain shared the incident via the social media platform TikTok, which was later reposted on Twitter accompanied by the hashtag #MakeSchoolASaferPlace.

“Male students like him are the reason why I continue to fight, teachers who constantly ‘infect’ such thoughts on male teenagers need to be cleaned out of our education system,” she added via Twitter.

Saiful said he would meet with the investigating officer tonight to discuss the case.

“So far I have not received any information on the action against the teacher or the male student.

“But now they are spreading rumours that Ain is a problematic student, suffering from trauma and internal issues. That is a lie, Ain is an excellent student at the school,” said Saiful.

He said several of Ain’s supporters who contacted him via Facebook stated that they had sent a formal complaint to the Ministry of Education and other relevant ministries.

He said he fully supported his daughter’s actions in raising awareness among the general public about the incident involving the male teacher.

His daughter’s action, he said, was not intended to portray the teacher as an enemy, but to improve the system so that the same thing would not happen to others.

“This issue has received attention from various parties, hopefully it will be a turning point on the quality of our education and the society that is being shaped for the future.

“Thank you for all the messages, comments and information shared. I really appreciate it,” he said. – April 26, 2021.