A father has filed a civil suit against a private school in Setapak and one of its teachers, over alleged bullying of his son. 

Fairul Ramzi filed the negligence suit at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, for "failing to ensure his son's safety" after his son suffered injuries after alleged bullying on June 1 this year. 

He claimed that there were other bullying incidents involving his son prior, but the last incident was the "last straw". 

"At first I thought it was harmless. It is partly my fault because I thought it was normal. 

"I think this mentality needs to change. If your child reports a bullying case to you we need to take immediate action.

"I said (to my son) 'You are bigger than them, so you should be able to handle this', but actually, I was wrong," he said to reporters at the Kuala Lumpur courthouse complex today.

He claimed that in the latest incident, his eight-year-old son was bitten on the face and kicked in the buttocks by one of his classmates during class and that the substitute teacher present did not intervene.

According to Fairul, no attempts were made by the teacher to put a halt to the bullying student's behaviour despite being in the classroom when the incident happened.

Dissatisfied with the school's action in this matter, he decided to bring this case to court to "seek justice" for his son and to prevent similar incidents from happening to other students at the school.

Fairul's lawyer Syahredzan Johan did not disclose the school's actions as he said it is a subject matter in the suit, which was filed yesterday.

Prior to this incident, Fairul claimed that there had been three to four bullying incidents against his son, such as poking, slapping and throwing of books at him.

He further alleged that there were teachers present during the other incidents, and they too, did not intervene to stop the bullying. 

"The suit is not against the other boy. It is against the school and the teacher because the school has essentially failed to ensure the safety of (the child)" said Syahredzan. 

The child, who had been pulled out from the school several days after the latest bullying incident, is now being home-schooled, Fairul said.

The suit is seeking general damages and special damages, among other compensation, as well as any other costs or reliefs the court deems suitable.

Malaysiakini has attempted to contact the private school and is awaiting their response.