Fadley Faisal
A 29-year-old local, who worked as a teacher at a private school, was yesterday sentenced to seven years’ jail and four canings for outraging the modesty of girls between the ages of six and eight.
The defendant earlier pleaded guilty to the three charges, admitting to forcing three of his students to touch his private parts in a primary school, where he worked as a teacher on July 13, between 11am and noon.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Fitri binti Kiprawi said the defendants’ actions were “gross abuse of trust as a teacher towards three young victims” as well as “disregard for his surroundings when he committed the offences in the presence of other students”.
Judge Hajah Hazarena binti Pehin Orang Kaya Setia Jaya Dato Paduka Haji Hurairah, on handing the sentence, agreed with the deputy public prosecutor’s statement of facts by saying that the offences committed by the defendant were inexcusable as he had abused his position as a teacher.
She also expressed concerns over the long-term impact the incident had on the victims.
The Deputy Public Prosecutor revealed in the Intermediate Court that the teacher, who had been teaching social studies and science to Year 1 students at the primary school since 2019, was immediately fired when the school authorities learnt about the incident.
The defendant approached a six-year-old student, who was reading a textbook in the classroom, grabbed her hand and made her touch his private parts.
He then walked towards the desk of a seven-year-old student and repeated the same action before turning his attention to an eight-year-old.
The incident came to light when the six-year-old victim confided in her mother after school, and upon further probing, discovered that the defendant had done the same thing to a seven-year-old.
The victim’s mother immediately contacted the mother of the seven-year-old, and they lodged a complaint with the school authorities as well as a report with the police.
During an internal query the following day, the school authorities learnt that an eight-year-old had also been victimised by the defendant and promptly informed the parent who later filed a police report.
The Women and Children Abuse Investigation Unit at the Royal Brunei Police Force’s Criminal Investigation Department launched a series of investigations during which the defendant confessed to outraging the modesty of three female students in class.
In court, the defendant expressed his remorse and apologised to the families of the victims as well as the school, and asked for leniency from the judge.
