A MUSIC teacher who is undergoing drug rehabilitation is said to have slapped and tried to strangle a nine-year-old pupil, reported Harian Metro.

The pupil, Vimala Thaksan, of SK Taman Rakan in Kajang has been having nightmares and is now afraid to go to school.

The teacher, in his 40s, has been transferred 11 times as he was found to be rough with the pupils, including punching them in the stomach, throwing a compact disc at them and scratching their faces.

Vimala?s mother Muniswany Rasu, 30, claimed that the teacher tried to strangle her daughter before dragging her and scratching her face.

?The teacher did this as my daughter was noisy. There are better ways to punish my daughter but this is definitely not the method,? added the distraught mother.

A parent-teacher association representative, Faridah Jaul, said the teacher was also believed to have banged the head of a pupil on the table and had threatened to kill the pupil if the parents were told about the matter.

?He had also punched a pupil in the abdomen just because the pupil had asked for permission to switch on the fan,? added Faridah.

A background check by the association revealed that the teacher had been involved in drugs and he was currently under rehabilitation.

The association hoped that the District Education Office would terminate or suspend the services of the teacher as it was dangerous to send him to another school.

The teacher has been ordered to be transferred to another school but the official letter could not be handed to him as he failed to turn up for work.