Pupil: I cannot stand it anymore

The condition of his legs before the operation.

JOHOR BARU: The 11-year-old religious school student whose legs were amputated started suffering the alleged abuse last month and wrote about it in his diary.

His aunt Dzuraidah Ahmad, 38, said her nephew complained previously about the beatings, reportedly by an assistant warden.

“My nephew said that sometimes, he and his friends would even volunteer to get beaten first as they wanted to go to bed early since they had to wake up at 3am for prayers,” she claimed.

She said her family had found the boy’s diary, in which he wrote about the torment that he had to endure.

“My nephew wrote he was punched for no reason and could no longer stand the abuse, and wanted to transfer to a different school,” Dzuraidah said at Sultan Ismail Hospital here yesterday.

In one entry, the boy wrote he was punched in the buttocks after being told by the assistant warden to wash some mugs.

“Dear Allah, please open my parents’ hearts to allow me to transfer to another school because I cannot stand it anymore. Please, Allah, make my wishes come true,” he was said to have written.

According to his second aunt Nurul Nabila Ahmad, 30, the boy’s condition has taken a turn for the worse, with blood clots forming in his left shoulder.

“At first we thought his condition was improving, since his right arm was returning to its natural colour, but on Sunday, we were disheartened by the news of the blood clots in his shoulder,” she said.

Doctors have given him treatment to stop the blood clots from getting worse.

The boy also underwent dialysis to treat his failing kidneys, but Nurul Nabila said he is still in a coma and in critical condition.

Johor Islamic Religious Commit­tee chairman Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim said checks showed the private religious school was one of the state’s leading institutions.

It was earlier reported that the boy was allegedly beaten by the assistant warden with a water hose, and both of his legs had to be removed due to infection.

His condition became worse when the infection spread to his right arm as well as his kidneys.

According to Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Rahmat Othman, the 29-year-old assistant warden is under remand until Wednesday to help in investigations.

He said the suspect had a previous criminal record for theft and served 30 months in jail. The school hired him in 2016.