PUTRAJAYA: The death of bullying victims must not be used as a political weapon, warned the Prime Minister.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said using the death of a bullying victim for deception and incitement is a completely unacceptable act.
“As for social media, we regulate it, but there are limits.
“Most recently, someone claiming to be a pathologist gave an account of (the post-mortem on Zara Qairina Mahathir), and this poisoned the minds of millions of people, to the point that my friends, wife and colleagues asked me, ‘What is this?’”
“The person (Zara Qairina) has already died, and then we turn this into a political weapon to attack others.
“That would be one thing if it were true, but how can we use someone’s death to lie and incite?” he said.
Anwar said this when delivering his address at the monthly assembly of the Prime Minister’s Department here yesterday, Bernama reported.
Anwar acknowledged that there may have been shortcomings in the handling of Zara Qairina’s death, particularly regarding the investigation and certain delays. However, he emphasised that the authorities are doing their best to address the situation.
“DPM Fadillah, DPM Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and I have already issued statements, and we have held a high-level meeting to ensure that the investigation is transparent,” he said.
Anwar said that the culture of bullying must be eradicated, as it represents both psychological and physical abuse, which can have serious repercussions for society.
“Certain controversies in the country, especially several cases of the deaths of our children – Zara Qairina in Sabah, Faris (Wan Ahmad Faris Wan Abdul Rahman) in Kelantan and several other cases – are said to be bullying cases.
“Bullying is psychological and physical abuse, whether in schools, universities, offices or the Health Ministry.
“This culture must be stopped, as it is a form of depravity involving humiliation based on someone’s person, skin colour and more,” he said.
Form One student Zara Qairina was rushed to hospital after being found unconscious in a drain near the hostel of SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha in Papar at 4am on July 16. She died the following day.
Wan Ahmad Faris, a 14-year-old student of Sekolah Maahad Tahfiz Sains Nurul Aman, was found hanged in the school toilet on Dec 14, 2013. A post-mortem classified the case as “sudden death”.
His name resurfaced recently after his family called for a reinvestigation into his death.
Yesterday, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the identity of a TikTok user, who claimed to be a surgeon involved in Zara Qairina’s post-mortem, is being traced.
