A screenshot from a viral video allegedly showing students from a madrasah being assaulted at a shop premises in Kota Kinabalu, which has prompted a police investigation and action by religious authorities.
KOTA KINABALU: Police have arrested a man to assist investigations into abuse allegations involving students from a madrasah, following the spread of a video on social media.
The video reportedly shows the students being struck with a helmet.
Kota Kinabalu OCPD Asst Comm Kasim Muda said police received a report at 11.55pm on Sunday (Dec 14) regarding the incident, which is said to have taken place at a business premises in the city.
The case is believed to involve a group of madrasah students and an adult man said to be a teacher at the school.
"Based on information received, we have arrested a local man to help with investigations," he said in a statement on Monday (Dec 15).
ACP Kasim said the case is being investigated under Section 324 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt using a weapon, and Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.
Meanwhile, the Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JHEAINS) said it has taken immediate action following the viral video.
Its director Datuk Jumain Abdul Ghani said a team had been deployed to the premises to obtain a full report on the incident, and the department would decide on further steps once the findings are completed.
He stressed that the short-term measures being taken were aimed at identifying appropriate solutions to prevent a recurrence.
"Discipline must be upheld, but any form of violence, especially involving hard objects, is not acceptable. There are better and more reasonable approaches to disciplinary issues," he told reporters here on Tuesday (Dec 16).
Jumain said the madrasah has about 90 students and is run by five teachers.
He acknowledged that work pressure may have contributed to the alleged incident, but it did not justify the actions seen in the video.
The madrasah is a private institution, but uses the JHEAINS syllabus and remains under the department’s supervision through monitoring and a regularisation programme implemented over the past three years.
Pintasan assemblyman Datuk Fairuz Renddan also condemned the incident, saying that disciplinary issues must never be addressed through violence and that firm action was needed to ensure such cases do not recur.
He said parents send their children to madrasah with the expectation that they will be cared for and protected, and incidents such as this would naturally raise concerns among families.
ACP Kasim, meanwhile, urged the public not to speculate on the case and to respect the privacy of all parties involved.
"Anyone with information on the incident is urged to come forward and assist investigations by contacting the nearest police station," he added.
