Two cases of gang rape and a murder in three schools in the past fortnight have fuelled the fears of parents for their children’s safety, and raised public concerns over the lack of official oversight and impunity in educational institutions.
The education ministry’s director general Mohd Azam Ahmad admitted on Tuesday that he discovered numerous cases of schools covering up sexual abuse and bullying incidents within the first three months of his taking office.
“If we hide everything under the carpet, it will seem as though everything is fine, but in reality, we know these problems exist,” Mohd Azam said at an anti-bullying campaign stop in Kuala Lumpur. “They are like a thorn in the flesh or an atomic bomb just waiting to explode.”
Eight teenage boys were arrested last week in Melaka and Kedah states for two separate alleged gang rapes in schools. They were caught after phone camera footage of the acts was discovered by school authorities.
One of the suspects in the Melaka case has already confessed to the crime, according to a report by national newswire Bernama.
