KOTA KINABALU, Aug 26 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor today said the tragic death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir should serve as a wake-up call for religious institutions to confront the culture of bullying in their schools.
“What is even more disheartening is that this culture of bullying among students has also taken place in religious schools…I too want to know what exactly happened,” he said when opening the Du’at Convention at the Sabah International Convention Centre here.
He said that the Islamic religious affairs convention is the right avenue to reflect on and evaluate weaknesses, correct shortcomings not only in schools but also in all organisations, whether they belong to the government or the private sector.
Hajiji said that as citizens in a multi-racial country, Muslims cannot avoid facing issues related to their religion, especially on social media but expressed concern about the spread of false propaganda, including fake news and slander.
He said this was a malicious tactic used by anti-government groups aimed at demeaning or
destroying the reputation of certain leaders as the state election draws near.
“Apart from political issues, there are also other matters that have been sensationalised,
such as those concerning the economy, security, health, the environment, and the 3R, where even the institution of the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri has been attacked and belittled,” he said, referring to issues concerning race, religion and royalty.
He also pointed at how the death of Zara was used as fodder by some irresponsible netizens, to the extent that they resorted to lying, spreading fake news and slandering targeted individuals, he said.
Zara Qairina, 13, was found unconscious near her school dormitory in Sabah on July 16 and pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital the next day.
The Form One student is believed to have suffered bullying, neglect, and sexual harassment.
The case led to a police investigation, including analysis of her diary, exhumation of her body for a second post-mortem, and charges against five teenagers accused of bullying her, marking the first case under a new section of the Penal Code in Malaysia.
An inquest into Zara Qairina’s death is scheduled to begin next week.
The Education Ministry has temporarily reassigned the principal, senior assistant of Student Affairs, and all wardens of SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha to the Sabah State Education Department pending the completion of investigations.
