PETALING JAYA: A 16-year-old student allegedly attacked a teacher with a knife at an international school in Kuching, Sarawak, today.
According to media reports, acting Sarawak police chief Saifullizan Ishak dismissed claims that an axe was involved, saying the weapon was a penknife.
School authorities told the media that the teacher was injured while attempting to wrest the knife from the student.
The school said staff members restrained the student and took him to the principal’s office, where he was being monitored while the school considered its next course of action. His parents had been informed.
The teacher was taken to hospital for treatment, and no other injuries were reported. The school was closed immediately to allow police to conduct their investigation.
Saifullizan said Kuching district police chief Alexson Naga Chabu would provide further details about the incident.
The incident comes about two and a half weeks after the killing of 16-year-old Form Four student Irene Sofiya Mohd Khairool Faisal, which shocked the country.
She was found unconscious and covered in blood in the hall of her secondary school in Yong Peng, Batu Pahat, Johor, on Oct 3. She was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
A post-mortem found that she had died from severe head injuries. She also had defensive wounds on her hands.
A 16-year-old male classmate was arrested the following day and remanded.
Johor police chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said investigators believed the killing stemmed from the suspect’s resentment after Irene Sofiya rejected his advances and was reportedly seeing his best friend. He stressed, however, that the motive was still under investigation.
The case was subsequently investigated as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
The killing prompted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to pledge that there would be no compromise on school safety.
On Oct 15, the underaged suspect was officially charged with murder at the Batu Pahat Magistrate’s Court.