Pupil ‘stripped’ by headmaster..

SEBERANG PERAI: A mother of a pair of twins is refusing to send her children to school after one of them was allegedly dragged by the headmaster until his pants came off while being beaten.
S. Jellinah Swari 35, said she came to know about what happened on March 10 when a mother of one of her son's classmate told her what allegedly happened at SK Stowell Bukit Mertajam.
She said she was told the headmaster had allegedly dragged her seven-year-old son until his pants came off and used his hands to beat him.
"I asked the class teacher and she admitted to the incident," she claimed in a press conference held today at the service centre of Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy here. Present was Ramasamy's assistant, M. Satees.
The housewife said she confronted the senior assistant over the matter but claimed she was scolded and called names, including "You perempuan bodoh" (You're a stupid woman).
"The headmaster only came out to meet me after 10 minutes of being yelled at when I told them I was going to tell the media about what happened," she said.
Jellinah said the headmaster had then admitted to beating her son and said she was told that he was angry over other matters.
She lodged complaint with the state education department on March 10 and a police report on March 13 but claimed there was no action so far.
She said her son was still traumatised by what happened and was suffering from bouts of fever.
Jellinah urged the school and the authorities to come clean over the matter and to apologise.
"I plan to transfer my children but only after an apology is issued because I do not want people to think my children are at fault," she said.
Penang Education Department director Datuk Osman Hussain could not be reached at press time.