Months of denials ended last night with education officials finally looking into allegations that female students are being violated, groped, and swabbed to prove they are menstruating, starting with a vocational college in Kuala Lumpur.
Education Minister Radzi Jidin visited Kolej Vokasional ERT Setapak last night, hours after allegations appeared on social media that more than 30 students were subjected to so-called period spot checks to ensure that they were not faking it to get out of daily Muslim prayers.
News of the decades-long gross practice of teachers checking if female students were bleeding came to light in April, but it saw no action from Radzi except to claim that there was no evidence it was happening.
Radzi’s visit came hours after Twitter use Tashny Sukumaran said a school whistleblower reported being among about 30 young women “rounded up, given cotton buds and asked to ‘prove’ that they were on their period.”
Radzi said he went to hear from the students and teachers but did not indicate any action was taken.
“After I arrived from Kuching to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport I immediately visited a school in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur to get information about allegations regarding physical period spot checks that have been happening to female students,” the 44-year-old minister wrote online.
“We are committed to making sure this does not happen at any other educational institutions,” he added. Also present were Secretary-General Yusran Shah Mohd Yusof and Director-General Nor Zamani Abdol Hamid.
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