The father of a 14-year-old boy who tried to commit suicide , allegedly due to extreme emotional strain from a religious tussle, has lodged a police report against 11 individuals for tormenting the teenager.

                                                                                                                               

S Ganesan told Malaysiakini that he would hold all of them accountable should the condition of his son, G Thiyaggurudeen, who drank paraquat mixed with coffee on Wednesday, worsen.

 

"My son is traumatised. If anything happens to him, I will hold the teachers and the (Negri Sembilan) Islamic Department responsible," he said.

 

In the police report sighted by Malaysiakini , Ganesan named a Social Welfare Department officer, two teachers and eight Islamic Department officers.

 

The police report was lodged at the Seremban II police station, but Ganesan said the case would be investigated by the Port Dickson police, who were also looking into previous reports lodged on his son's ordeal.

 

Thiyaggurudeen, who is Muslim on paper, had claimed that he was held in an Islamic missionary centre in Negri Sembilan on Feb 13 and was forced by two teachers to lodge a police report against his father, who is a Hindu.

 

He was allegedly grilled for more than three hours by a group claiming to be Islamic Affairs Department officers before his father tracked down his son’s whereabouts and rescued him.

 

The teachers also allegedly forced Thiyaggurudeen to drink 'air penawar', a claim which the teachers denied .

 

'Air penawar' is water that has been subject to prayers and reportedly possesses healing properties.

 

The teenager is listed as a Muslim on his MyKad identity card although his father is a Hindu and his mother, an Indonesian Muslim.

 

Ganesan had applied to the Syariah Court to change his son's religion, but was told that he must wait until the boy is 18.

 

Triggered by fear

 

Ganesan claimed that his son tried to commit suicide due to fear that he would be taken away and forced to undergo the ordeal again.

 

"He drank the poison because he is afraid that the Islamic Department and his teachers will detain him at the missionary centre every day," Ganesan said in the police report.

 

Thiyaggurudeen is currently being treated at Seremban's Tuanku Jaafar Hospital and his condition is uncertain.

 

"He can still eat and talk... (but) his urine tested positive (for paraquat) today, so the doctor can't give me a definitive answer (on his condition)," he told Malaysiakini .

 

Paraquat is normally used as a herbicide, and causes multiple organ failure in humans if ingested even in small quantities. It is also potentially lethal if its fumes are inhaled.

 

Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan Education Department director Kalsom Khalid refused to comment on the incident when contacted by Malaysiakini .

 

"It is now a police matter, so we will let them investigate," Kalsom said.