By Heidi Foo

SEREMBAN, MALAYSIA: The family of a Form Five student here is enraged after an alleged caning by the girl's teacher may have left her paralysed.

Nurliyana Nazran, 17, who had hurt her lower back in an earlier fall, was unable to walk after the teacher caned her on the buttocks for doing badly in her Mathematics test.

It is learnt that Nurliyana's right leg became numb after the 2pm incident yesterday and she was rushed to the Tuanku Jaafar Seremban Hospital for an examination.

Her stepfather, Mohd Yusof Minhad, 45, said about three weeks ago, Nurliyana had fallen and hurt her lower back in her hostel's dining hall.

"Doctors then had found some fractures," he said, adding that she was given three weeks' medical leave.

However, Nurliyana returned to her school in Kuala Klawang, Jelebu, after two weeks as she had to sit for her monthly tests.

Mohd Yusof claimed that he had told the hostel warden about Nurliyana's condition and had asked the warden to keep an eye on her.

"The warden gave me the assurance that she would be well taken care of," said Mohd Yusof, a civil servant.

He said he was shocked to receive a call from one of his daughter's teachers telling him that Nurliyana had been caned and was hurt.

"I rushed from my home in Panchor Jaya, Paroi, to Jelebu and was told that my daughter had been carried to her hostel room.

"I immediately asked to see the school's supervisor but was surprised when the supervisor didn't even know about the incident," he said.

Mohd Yusof said that a few teachers told him that the teacher who caned Nurliyana was not aware of her earlier injury.

"How can the teacher not be aware when you can see that my daughter's waist is bandaged?

"I was told that one of Nurliyana's classmates had tried to stop the teacher but she, too, was caned."

He has lodged a report on the incident at the Paroi police station.

Meanwhile, state education director Abdullah Mohamad said he had yet to receive a report from the school on the incident.

"However, we view this matter seriously.

"An investigation will be carried out as soon as we receive the full report," he added

Is this article useful to you?