By Ainina Hasnul
Have you ever accidentally touched a boiling kettle? Even a quick touch could cause you a blistering burn, imagine the pain multiplied, scorching on 90 different parts of your body. Could you possibly imagine the pain Zulfarhan had to face days before his tragic death?
Accused of a crime he didnt commit, murdered upon a mere accusation, Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnains passing crushed millions of Malaysians’ hearts. Four years ago, until today. The deceased was allegedly tortured by his own fellow peers from Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) due to accusations of laptop theft.
Reports stated Zulfarhan had a hot steam iron pressed onto his body, including his private parts. Withstaining pain, he screamed and cried loudly begging for the accused to stop. Mercilessly, they did not. A week and a half passed, he was found covered with bruises and 90 horrendous burn marks before being brought to Serdang Hospital. There, he was pronounced dead.
The worst part is, the laptop was later proven never was in his possession.
His case shed light to the alarming culture of bullying in both schools and higher learning institutions in Malaysia. To be frank, being beaten up and having a hot steam iron pressed against the body does not even fall close to bullying. It is cold blood abuse.
It was a heartless crime, and should be addressed as one. These bullies arent misunderstood teenagers, in fact they are criminals. However, the origin of such behavior must have come from the normalisation of the bullying culture that was birthed in schools.
This case alone raises many questions. How did we go by raising a generation of heartless thugs? Who is to be blamed for this failure? And is it worth pointing fingers? We talk about accountability, but are there enough means provided to establish and enforce it?
The most crucial question here is, how do we prevent another Zulfarhan? Is anti-bullying campaigns and awareness enough to protect our youth? Who is responsible to ensure no such incidents reoccur in the future and has the government done their part enough? These questions should get you thinking.
If you do even a slight research on the topic (trust me, I have), you would see a lot of urging, and very little of doing. It has been four years since the ground-breaking incident and we have yet to see specific laws being enacted to curb bullying problems. Calls have been made, but none were returned. Merely urging is not enough, we need to see actions.
We are in desperate need of an Anti-Bullying Act. Not having bullying offences specifically stated under the Penal Code leads to higher chances of criminals (lets address them as they are) escaping punishments.
Our laws are almost iron-clad and the government is terrible at smelting. Over time, these laws would be outdated and loop-holes are bound to appear. Perpetrators are only getting a slap on the wrist, be it for any factors.
We are currently front-seat audiences of this show. Six accused of Zulfarhans murder case escaped the hangman’s noose. They were found guilty of a lesser charge hence were only convicted with a sentence of 18 years of jail. This is owing to the fact that the crime was deemed an unpremeditated murder as no intent of murder was found by the Court.
I doubt anyone could explain how death crossed not any of the minds of the six culprits as they were printing 90 burn marks on the poor boys body. Evidently, the masses agree. The courts ruling has caused chaos among followers of the case, especially online.
These loopholes do not only fail the deceased, but also the living. Family of the victim fought for justice for four years. Zulfarhans father, Zulkarnain Idrus, expressed his disappointment and has planned to appeal the High Court decision.
On top of that, this fosters fear among those who are facing the same situation. Knowing the law could potentially fail them as well in any case of misfortune, justice seems so far out of reach.
Mother of Zulfarhan, Hawa Osman, still a million pieces broken. She suffers cataract problems as she loses sleep after her sons passing. D. Shanti, mother of T Nhaveen, another bully victim brutally beaten to death, admits to the undying grief she experienced. She described that the pain felt endless and surreal even after years have passed.
Now, what do we do? Malaysia simply needs to wake up and look up. We have neighbouring countries who have made efforts to halt the same problem.
The closest example would be Singapore. The countrys strict laws govern a wide range of bullying offences. This would include offences ranging from harassment, cyberstalking, denigration, impersonation, trickery to other different forms of harassment. Their law provides remedies, with help from special courts that take care of these cases.
If we look further, the United Kingdoms Education and Inspections Act 2006, Section 89 (Determination by head teacher of behaviour policy) enforces strict and strong policies to be made by head teachers for their respective schools. The Act lists down a clear guideline of measures needed to be met. The message is to publicise that bullying will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
In the United States, anti-bullying laws and regulations are available in all 50 states. Similar to Singapore, remedies and disciplinary procedures are readily drawn if incidents were to occur. Awareness does its job. Prevention is indeed better than cure. Be that as it may, what happens when prevention doesn’t work and the cure is not there.
This matter needs to be handled holistically and we are all responsible. It is about time for specific legislation to be drafted and policies to be made stricter at schools and universities. The Child Act 2001 (Act 611) and the Penal Code (Act 574) are insufficient to safeguard victims of bullying and discrimination.
This requires a collective effort involving all members of the society. From policy makers to teachers and from parents to peers, let us all play our parts.***
(This article is written as part of individual assignment series for Feature Writing class)