Fourteen air force trainees allegedly involved in torturing a new recruit earlier this year in scenes that were captured on videotape have been charged with abuse.

The 14 students at the Royal Malaysian Air Force training college in Kepala Batas, in Kedah, were charged with abusing 20-year-old Muhammed Hazim Ahmad Azman in January, the New Straits Times reported.

The charges include forcing Hazim to stand on nails fixed to a piece of wood and pouring hot water over him, the paper said.

The senior trainees also reportedly made the aeronautical engineering student drink his own vomit and crawl on his knuckles - actions described by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Najib Razak as "unforgivable".

Additional charges

The 14 offenders, aged between 19 and 22, face a maximum jail sentence of one year and/or a fine of up to RM2,000.

Two of the trainees face additional charges for using dangerous weapons, punishable by a maximum jail term of three years, a fine, whipping or any two of the three.

The incident was made public in February when Hazim's father filed a police complaint after seeing both digital pictures and video footage taken by one of the recruit's friends.

Air force officials have said in reports that despite a ban on physical abuse, such incidents between senior and junior trainees occurred frequently.