Truant teacher: Intimidated for refusing to collude, witness says

A plaintiff witness in the case of a former student’s suit against a teacher from SMK Taun Gusi in Sabah claimed she was accused of being a traitor and intimidated for refusing to collude with the defendant.

Nurhaizah Ejab, also a teacher at the school, told the Kota Kinabalu High Court she was intimidated after she refused to comply with the school’s order to keep quiet about the systemic truancy of the defendant, her colleague Jainal Jamran.

She said she made two police reports related to the issue after the lawsuit was filed.

However, she claimed that the police investigation did not continue due to a lack of witnesses.

In addition, Nurhaizah also claimed the police stopped the probe as the SMK Taun Gusi headmaster at the time, Suid Hanapi, was their former teacher at the school.

“At the level of the State Education Department, I have been accused of being a traitor and threatened with action if I do not cooperate with the defendant. 

“I made two reports to the Kota Kinabalu police station after this lawsuit was filed. When making the report, the police were unable to continue the investigation because they stated that I was the only witness in this case and this was not enough for them to investigate.

“They also said they knew the principal as their former teacher,” explained Nurhaizah when cross-examined by senior federal counsel Jesseca Daimis yesterday.

Absent for 7 months

On Oct 30, 2018, student Siti Nafirah Siman filed a lawsuit against Jainal for allegedly skipping class for seven months in 2015.

At that time, Siti was a Class 4 Commerce student at SMK Taun Gusi.

Apart from Jainal, she also named the principal of the school at the time of the case, the Kota Belud district education officer, the Sabah education director, the director-general of education, the education minister, and the Malaysian government as defendants.

Siti was represented by lawyer Shireen Sikayun while the defendant was represented by Jesseca. 

The trial continues before High Court judge Ismail Brahim and will continue on a date to be determined later.

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