A TEACHER has got what he deserved for having lured a Form Three school pupil in Kuala Lumpur to embrace Islam after claiming that doing so would boost his chances of becoming a national footballer.
Police have begun investigations into a report lodged against a teacher by the boy’s parents. On Feb 7 at 10.21am, the complainant, a Malaysian mother, reported the matter to the police, according to Cheras police chief Assistant Commissioner Zam Halim Jamaluddin.
The boy’s mother who identified herself as “Vasan” earlier claimed that the class teacher also told her 15-year-old son that “only Muslims are allowed to enter stadiums in Malaysia”.
The incident surfaced on Feb 3 when her son showed her the messages in a WhatsApp group created for the class by the teacher.
“When I looked through the messages, I noticed that the teacher told my son that if he wanted to join the national team, he had to be a Muslim. He then encouraged my son to convert and even asked the class to suggest Muslim names for him,” Malaysiakini cited her as telling a media conference in Petaling Jaya yesterday (Feb 8).
“What baffled me the most was that the teacher said that only Muslims are allowed to enter stadiums in Malaysia.”
Vasan and her husband were accompanied by Hindu Agamam Ani Malaysia Association chairperson Arun Dorasamy at the media conference.
Showing the media copies of the WhatsApp messages, she said both she and her husband had tried to call the teacher to talk about the messages, but he had blocked their numbers.
She further claimed that her son has revealed that the teacher has been preaching to him about Islam for the past six months. The boy even expressed worry that he would be removed from the school team or be given lower grades if a police report was lodged.
Meanwhile, Zam Halim said an investigation paper had been opened under Section 298A of the Penal Code and Section 505(b) of the same Act.
Section 298A deals with the offence of “causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion” while Section 505(b) deals with those who make, publish or circulate any statement, rumour or report with intent to cause fear or alarm to the public.
“As of now, several witness statements have been recorded and a detailed investigation is being carried out regarding this incident,” Zam Halim noted in a statement.
“The Cheras Police advise the public not to speculate and if they have any information regarding this incident, they can contact the Cheras Police Hotline at 03-9284 5050/ 5051, the Kuala Lumpur Police Hotline at 03-2115 9999 or any nearby police station.” – Feb 9, 2023
Main photo credit: Getty Image
