Two weeks after the death of 11-year-old Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi at the hands of his alleged abuser, a similar beating in another tahfiz school has surfaced. This time, the punishment is alleged to have taken place at a school in Batang Kali. The soles of the feet of an 11-year-old boy were beaten in the same way as Thaqif.

Bastinado, which is the term given to this sort of beating, is prohibited by the Geneva convention. Incredibly, this form of medieval torture, which was once used by the Nazis and is allegedly practised widely in the Middle East, is apparently being regularly dished out by the religious teachers in the tahfiz schools in Malaysia.

If you are the parents of children attending these schools, at which point do you decide that this form of beating is not permissible? You want your child to be able to read the Quran, but you also want him to be disciplined. Are you confident that the teacher with the water hose knows when to stop?

Will parents only demand tougher rules when a severe beating has been brought into the public domain, or a death has occurred, as in the case of Thaqif Amin?

What is the role of the media in highlighting such abuses? Do we turn a blind eye and not upset the authorities, or should we be responsible Malaysians and inform the public so that they are moved to contact their MPs for further action? Are we bystanders, too?

As has been shown, our authorities were inadequately equipped to deal with the incident involving Thaqif.

Nevertheless, the recent case in Batang Kali came to light after a grandfather withdrew his grandson from a tahfiz school, having confirmed with the teacher and the headmaster that the punishment was commonly administered at his grandson’s school.

The grandfather told a mainstream newspaper that it was unacceptable for the teaching staff to make the children learn the Quran by beating them. He said that children who are ruled by fear will become disenchanted with their studies.

Jim Lim, a Malaysian whose professional expertise is in social welfare work, who did a post-graduate degree in Criminology, and who has more than 20 years experience in caring for the needs of children and young adults with mental health issues in England, has asked the very simple question: “Who is actually doing what, in Malaysia?”

The social welfare expert said that the main problem is the absence of clear-cut laws relating to corporal punishment in Malaysia.

Regular inspection and monitoring

Lim singled out the Education Ministry and the Welfare Ministry and said, “All schools, whatever their denomination or special status, must be subjected to regular inspection and monitoring to ensure that they meet the core aims of education and development.

“Who should do that? The Education Ministry primarily, supported by the Welfare Ministry.”

Describing Thaqif's case, he said, “Once Thaqif’s situation was discovered, the school should immediately have suspended the employee.

“This would demonstrate the school’s acknowledgment of the seriousness of the case, and prevent the alleged perpetrator from committing further crimes or interfering with the evidence.”

Lim explained the role of the Welfare Department and said, “The Welfare Ministry should be notified as they have the responsibility of conducting an objective review of the case.

“The school should participate in this child-centred review, but not lead it. The school should conduct its own review of its standard operating procedures or internal rules and regulations, and review the recruitment policies, pupil relationships, etc.

"The Welfare Ministry’s terms of references should be ‘what happened, what and who was responsible?’

He also pinpointed the role of the police and said, “The police should be summoned as a crime may have been committed. Their inquiries may uncover pertinent evidence.”

According to Lim, the processes he outlined should be widely reported, to reassure the public that swift and ‘determined action’ would demonstrate that Thaqif's death is unusual and must not happen again.

One hopes that this social welfare expert’s advice will be taken into consideration, to prevent further incidents of the type that befell Thaqif.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.