By WU VUIDE
KOTA KINABALU: Upko Deputy President Datuk Donald Peter Mojuntin said bullying cases in schools can no longer be taken lightly as statistics have shown alarming incidents.
Statistics speak clearly as 16.2 per cent of secondary school students (Forms 1 to 5) have been victims of bullying within a 30-day period, according to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2017, he said.
Donald made this comment in the wake of the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir where he also expressed his deepest condolences to her family.
A national study in 2022 involving 4,469 students found that 79.1 per cent had been involved in bullying either as perpetrators (14.4 per cent), victims (16.3 per cent), or both (48.4 per cent), he said.
Reported cases have also risen sharply from 3,887 in 2022 to 5,891 in 2023, and by October 2024, the number of students involved had reached 11,594, he added.
“We still remember several horrific incidents. Apart from Zara’s case, there was a Form 1 student locked in a school toilet in Kedah, and a Form 3 student who sustained serious eye injuries after being assaulted.
“Bullying is not confined to classrooms or school fields. Cyberbullying is also on the rise. NHMS 2017 found that 13.3 per cent of students had been victims of bullying on digital platforms,” he said.
The effects of bullying are severe — depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and most alarmingly, the risk of attempted suicide is about 4.8 times higher among bullying victims, according to a study of 27,497 students published in 2023 by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, he said.
“This is why the bullying problem must be addressed firmly. It requires a concerted effort from home, school, community, and government including strengthening the implementation of programmes such as BEST (Help, Empathy, Love, Responsibility) by the Ministry of Education,” he said.
Next, he said post-mortems or autopsies in suspicious deaths are not merely medical procedures. They are the key to uncovering the truth, ensuring justice is served, and preventing the loss of life from being in vain.
There are only two circumstances that allow exemptions through written application — death from a clear illness in hospital, or natural death at home with complete medical records and no criminal element — and even then, these are subject to the approval of a medical officer, police, or magistrate, he said.
Under Sections 329 and 331 of the Criminal Procedure Code, he said post-mortems are mandatory for cases of sudden or suspicious deaths. This includes murder, suicide, suspicious accidents, deaths in custody, and other cases required by law.
The case of Zara clearly falls within this category. If investigation procedures had been followed, the need to exhume the body for further investigation would not have arisen. This process has undoubtedly added to the family’s suffering, he said.
The decision by the Attorney General’s Chambers to direct a full inquest is an important step.
“We pray that through this inquest, the family will obtain clear facts, and if there was no wrongdoing, at least they will find peace of mind.
“Zara’s case must be a turning point. As a civilised society, we must speak out not only with words, but through firm and proactive action,” he said.
