An Islamic school teacher in Malaysia has been accused of beating to death a seven-year-old schoolboy who was accused of stealing 7 ringgit (£1.40) from another student.
The schoolboy, Saiful Sopfidee, died in a hospital on Sunday from injuries sustained during the beating, which happened at a private Islamic religious school hostel in the northern Malaysian state of Perlis.
The boy was allegedly tied to a window, beaten and strangled for two hours until he fell unconscious on Thursday evening, according to the New Strait Times newspaper. He fell into a coma in the early hours of Saturday morning and died the next day.
It was reported that the teacher panicked and called for help after he became unconscious.
“The victim sustained severe internal injuries on his head and slipped into a coma after he was admitted to the Tuanku Fauziah Hospital,” a source told the newspaper.
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The boy’s father, Saiful Sopfidee Marzuki, 34, was told of the incident by his son’s adopted parents, with whom the boy had lived since his mother, Jahiyah Che Amat, died in 2007.
“I was devastated to see my son in a coma at the hospital,” Mr Spfidee said. “There were bruises all over his face.” He added that there were also blisters on Saiful’s hands.
Mr Sopfidee denied that his son – who has been enrolled at the school in Arau, Perlis, since early this year – was a thief.
“I know that my son does not steal. Although it has been a year since we met, I know he is a good boy,” he said.
Mohamad Nadzri Hussain, the local police chief, said that the boy’s 26-year-old teacher, who is also the school warden, is being investigated over the death.
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The teacher had repeatedly accused the boy of stealing from another student, according to police.
It was reportedly the worst known case of student abuse in Malaysia in at least 15 years.