More than 500 relatives and friends of Form Two student Vasanthapiriya Muniandy, who died days after attempting suicide over being accused of stealing a teacher’s iPhone last week, gathered to pay their final respects as she was laid to rest today.
Deceased:
- Good person, friendly, according to classmates who do not believe she stole the phone
- Timid and quiet student with no disciplinary issues, according to a teacher
- A sensitive girl who felt extremely sad and humiliated to have been accused of theft, according to family
- Denied stealing the phone, said she loved the teacher who accused her
Teacher:
- Strict and somewhat mean, according to students
- Evading deceased’s family, gone into hiding
- Did not follow SOP in handling alleged theft
- Took law into her own hands when she threatened, locked up deceased
- Together with her husband, abused their power when they sent the deceased home for a confrontation with her parents
A sombre atmosphere descended on the girl’s family’s home in Kampung Tong Hai, Nibong Tebal, with hardly a dry eye among the crowd.
Many still could not come to terms with their unexpected loss, more so since the 14-year-old girl died in distress and humiliation after being accused of the crime.
Her parents, R Muniandy, 54, and A Malaveily, 51, could not hold back their tears and were seen constantly peering at their youngest daughter, who was lying in a white casket.
Vasanthapiriya’s sister and cousin were hunched over the coffin as the smell of incense permeated the living room.
Wails of despair and anguished sobs filled the air as her classmates turned up to say their final goodbyes.
They spoke of their late friend as a good person who was always friendly and chatted with everyone.
They could not believe that Vasanthapiriya could have stolen the teacher’s handphone.
According to one of the classmates, the teacher who had made the theft accusation was “always strict and somewhat mean to students”, the Malay Mail reported.
“I don’t understand why the teacher singled her out.
“All this over an iPhone 6? She said she didn’t take it and we believe she didn’t take it,” another schoolmate was quoted saying.
Putting on a brave front, Muniandy said: “We were hoping for the best. That she would wake up. But God loves her more.”
Muniandy expressed bitter disappointment that the teacher he holds responsible for his daughter’s death has yet to come forward to face the family.
“I tried to look for and contact the teacher, but she tried to evade us. Worst still, she has gone into hiding now.“
Looking back at what my daughter had told the family, all the more, we cannot accept her death,” he told reporters.
Last Wednesday, the girl is believed to have hanged herself with a shawl after she was accused of the theft.
“She locked herself in her room and pushed a sofa to block the door. When we forced ourselves into the room, she had hanged herself,” said the grief-stricken father.
Muniandy recounted that he could only scream in anguish when he saw his daughter unconscious.
“I think the whole kampung heard me screaming.
“I quickly performed first aid and got my brother to send her to the hospital,” Muniandy said.
However, Vasanthapiriya died at 3.30am yesterday, more than a week after being in a coma.
Before her suicide bid, the girl told her father she had not taken her teacher’s phone.
“I told her not to worry and that I would sort it out. She told her grandmother the same thing,” Muniandy said.
He said his daughter was “extremely sad” after she was brought home by her teacher and her husband.
She left a note telling her parents and grandmother that she loved them.
“She also said that she loved the teacher and did not steal her handphone. She also said it was her own decision (to attempt suicide),” Muniandy said at his daughter’s wake.
A teacher who had taught Vasanthapiriya described her as a timid and quiet student, The Star reported.
“She was shy and never got into any trouble. I believe the school database system will show she has no disciplinary record,” he was quoted saying.
Vasanthapiriya’s aunt A Lalitha, 43, said her niece was a sensitive girl and felt that she was humiliated by the theft accusation.
“The teacher might get her phone back but will my sister get her daughter back?” she asked.
Meanwhile, parent groups have said the teacher who accused Vasanthapiriya of stealing her phone had abused her position by threatening the teenager and locking her in a room for hours.
The groups also believe that the teen’s death could have been prevented had the teacher followed the standard protocol for disciplinary cases in schools.
“In these circumstances, the teacher had taken the law into her own hands and this is dangerous not only for the students but teachers as well,” Parent Action Group for Education chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim told the Malay Mail.
Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie) chairman Mak Chee Kin agreed with Noor Azimah, adding that the teacher had acted against the school’s standard operational procedure by detaining Vasanthapiriya for hours before taking her home to see her parents.
“It was not right. It was obvious that the teacher and her husband had abused their power by intentionally detaining her for so many hours,” he told the Malay Mail.
Mak said the teacher could have informed the disciplinary teacher, and let the latter investigate the matter.
He labelled the teacher’s actions as “bullying a defenceless student”, and called for the teacher to be suspended.
The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP)’s president Kamarozaman Abdul Razak said that the school should have immediately informed Vasanthapiriya’s parents of the case.
“If the parents are unavailable, then the Parent-Teacher Association of the school steps in.
“If that does not work, then the district education department gets involved followed by the police when required, this is usually reserved for heavy offences involving drugs and gangsterism,” he was quoted saying.
Police are investigating the case as suicide under Section 309 of the Penal Code.
The funeral cortege left Vasanthapiriya’s home at about 2pm today for the cremation ceremony at the Hindu burial ground in Jalan Changkat, Nibong Tebal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtYfJb_z0e4
Earlier reports:
Feb 1, Accused of Stealing Teacher’s Handphone, Girl Who Attempted Suicide Dies
Jan 27, Form Two Girl in Suicide Bid After Teacher Accuses Her of Stealing Handphone