The victim, S. Pravin, was bullied into drinking poison last Wednesday. Arriving home from school, he told his father, who is a local rubber tapper, that he had been held down by some boys and forced to drink a liquid. His father was skeptical, and initially blamed his son’s earlier experimentation with glue sniffing. The boy later had to go to the hospital, and was reported to have vomited blue liquid. The boy passed away this Tuesday.
His father is feeling unimaginable guilt, telling reporters at his son’s wake that, “When I asked him what had happened, he told me that a group of boys had pinned him down outside his school and forced him to swallow some liquid. Then they threw him into a stream.”
The boy was taken to Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital in Seremban, where he managed to write a police statement, telling officers he was assaulted by boys wearing school uniforms with red ties.
Malaysian Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon, paid his respects to Pravin at the family house yesterday. He drew attention to bullying, telling parents that they too needed to exercise greater discipline towards their children, not just wait for school authorities. “I have pledged to the father that we will investigate the matter. We want to know the condition of the school, whether there are disciplinary issues or external forces influencing the school environment,” he added.
Early tests report the liquid was an insecticide, ensuring the boy’s death was a long and painful one.
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