Ain and dad to countersue teacher over lewd joke in class
Form 5 student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam and her father will file a counterclaim against a teacher suing them over a TikTok video alleging lewd banter during a class session.
The duo is also set to haul to court the education minister, the Selangor state education director, and the school principal over alleged failure to protect her from the incident.
It was reported that teacher Khairul Nizam Sanuddin filed the defamation action...
Form 5 student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam and her father will file a counterclaim against a teacher suing them over a TikTok video alleging lewd banter during a class session.
The duo is also set to haul to court the education minister, the Selangor state education director, and the school principal over alleged failure to protect her from the incident.
It was reported that teacher Khairul Nizam Sanuddin filed the defamation action against the 17-year-old student and her 42-year-old father on Friday last week.
The father-daughter’s counsel SN Nair today confirmed that they are set to file the legal action against the teacher and the other proposed defendants.
“The teacher is still employed by the government, so naturally whatever (alleged) wrong he did, the government is liable on the basis of vicarious liability.
“The incident (allegedly) happened when the principal was there. The principal should have investigated and attended to the issue, that was his duty.
“When one does not do one’s duty, there will be liability,” Nair said when contacted.
The lawyer explained that the father-daughter seek to sue the teacher and the other proposed defendants for the tort of intentionally inflicting emotional distress (IIED).
Nair said IIED is basically a form of tort of negligence whereby the defendants’ actions caused a person to suffer from emotional distress, hence the plan to countersue for damages.
In relation to the teacher’s current defamation suit, Nair said that Ain and her father will first enter appearance in the Shah Alam Sessions Court via the lawyer, then later they will file their statement of defence.
The teacher’s legal action is fixed for case management before the lower court tomorrow.
On Aug 4, it was reported that the teen and her father received a letter of demand from a male teacher for purportedly defaming him.
The teen and both her parents were named as respondents in the letter, which demanded, among others, an apology and monetary compensation of RM1 million, with failure to fulfil the demands would result in further legal action.
Defamatory acts
On April 24, Ain posted a video on TikTok where she claimed a male teacher had made jokes about rape during a physical and health education class, prompting widespread outrage on social media.
This allegedly included telling the boys in class that if they commit rape, they should target those above 18.
Since going public with her story, Ain has gained supporters but also suffered criticisms and threats, including a rape threat from a classmate, who later apologised for his remark.
Teacher Khairul Nizam is suing over three TikTok videos, three Twitter postings, and several other alleged defamatory actions purportedly done by the father-daughter between April 23 and June 26.
Among the purported defamatory acts by the father are messages to WhatsApp group and Facebook as well as a few media interviews.
Through the writ of summons, Khairul Nizam claimed that during the class session on April 23, he had taught the students regarding legal protection for children against sexual offences, as well as self-defence methods to counter sexual assault, sexual harassment or rape.
