Bullied teen slashes own arm in protest

Painful ordeal: The father showing the wound on the teenager

SUNGAI PETANI: Angered after a classmate allegedly cut his hair, a 15-year-old boy slashed his own arm in front of other children in his classroom.

The boy used a paper cutter from his school bag to slash the inner side of his left arm twice before rushing to the toilet to wash the wound.

Some of his 28 classmates witnessed the incident in horror while they were waiting for their class to start on Sunday morning.

His mother, who came after receiving a call from the school authorities, rushed him to a clinic.

He received 12 stitches for the wound.

When met yesterday, the boy said he had wanted to show the bully what he had just done, claiming that the bully came from behind and cut his hair when he was at his desk.

He claimed that he had been bullied since last year.

“I was not in pain because I was so angry. But, I ran to the toilet to wash the blood when I saw there was so much blood on my arm,” he added.

The boy’s 43-year-old father, who worked as a driving instructor, said he had lodged a report at the Sungai Petani police station over the incident.

“My son is a quiet boy. However, I noticed that his behaviour changed since last year and his academic performance had also dropped.

“I went to his school and met with some of his friends, who told me that my son was being bullied.

“I also spoke to his teacher and when my son’s studies improved, I thought the matter had been resolved,” he added.

The man said he attended a meeting with the school administration on Sunday afternoon after the incident and was told that the school had suspended 10 boys over the bullying incident.

“I wonder why the school suspended 10 boys when only one boy had cut my son’s hair,” he said.

Kedah Education Department director Datuk Mansor Lat, when contacted, said the department viewed the incident seriously and would investigate.

Bullies triumph in the wake of apathy