14-Year-Old Tries To Hang Herself After Being Accused Of Stealing Her Teacher's iPhone
The girl is said to be in critical condition.
By Sadho Ram — 27 Jan 2018, 02:02 PM
Earlier this week, a Form Two student attempted to commit suicide by hanging herself with a shawl at home after being harassed at school by four teachers who accused her of stealing an iPhone
The student, aged 14, was accused of stealing her class teacher's iPhone on Wednesday. The class teacher along with her husband then took the student in their car to the girl's home at about 6.15pm the same day.
At the girl's home, the teacher told her parents that she had stolen her handphone.
"They said the theft was captured on CCTV but they could not confirm whether the girl in the footage was my daughter," The Star Online reported girl's father as saying.
However, before the girl was brought to her parents, she was summoned by four teachers at the school in Nibong Tebal and questioned about the theft.
They accused her of stealing one of the teachers' iPhone, threating to lodge a police report on the matter. The girl, however, maintained that she did not do it.
According to a report in NST Online, while the girl kept denying the accusation, one of the teachers then struck the student for failing to own up to the theft.
While she was adamant that she did not steal her class teacher's iPhone, she couldn't handle the shame of being accused to do so
After the teacher and husband left the girl's home, she locked herself in her room, leaving a note to her parents, saying that she did not steal the teacher's iPhone.
In the note, the 14-year-old apologised to her parents while mentioning that she did not want to cause them any more trouble.
However, her father, who found out the note in time, managed to open the door. He found her hanging and took her to the hospital, reported The Star Online
The girl is said to be in critical condition
According to The Star Online's report, the father has blamed the teacher for his daughter's condition, saying "A missing handphone could be replaced but can my daughter's life be replaced? She is on life support now".
The father has lodged a police report against the class teacher
NST Online reported that the father was accompanied by Seberang Prai Municipal Council councillor David Marshel, who said that the treatment the student received at the hands of the teacher "was appalling."
Marshel accused the class teacher of not following the standard operating procedure when investigating the incident. He said that the teacher should not have taken the girl home in her car without parental consent.
"The teacher should have brought the matter to the disciplinary teacher and investigated it together with the parents or the guardian of the child.
"None of this happened. They even threatened the girl with a police report," NST Online quoted Marshel as saying, Friday, 26 February.
The family has been assured that the district education department will investigate the matter and action will be taken, if necessary