KOTA KINABALU: Police have confirmed that the kidnapping rumour of a SK Pekan Telupid pupil was not true.
Beluran district police chief Supt Kasim Musa said they had checked with the school administration, which reached out to the pupil concerned, and found that the incident did not occur.
The authorities were responding to a voice message about a child-kidnapping attempt, which was uploaded in a WhatsApp application that went viral on Sept 28.
“We have never received any reports on this.
“The school management has called the pupil to check, and there was no such thing.
“Investigations found the voice in the recording belonged to the mother (of the child), who left the voice note in the family WhatsApp group without checking first (to determine facts).
“It then went viral without them realising,” said Supt Kasim in a statement on Monday (Oct 3).
He reminded that the public should practise fact checking before uploading or sharing any news which has not been verified, to avoid panic among the community.