KOTA KINABALU: A man was arrested after berating and threatening a teacher for taking action against his son for allegedly smoking on school premises yesterday.
The incident occurred around 9am, leading to the 49-year-old man's arrest following a police report filed by the teacher.
Sources said the teacher had caught a 17-year-old student, who was about to sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, inside a school restroom.
However, it is said that the 17-year-old contacted his father, who then arrived at the school and attempted to physically assault the teacher.
"Tensions escalated when the father arrived, accusing the teacher of assaulting his son.
"The teacher explained the actual incident involving the student but the father could not accept it and proceeded to verbally abuse the teacher and create a chaos within the school premises," one source said.
The source said the student's father also acted aggressively, pushing and choking the teacher until she almost fell.
The sources said several other teachers at the school intervened to calm the situation but the incident was captured by individuals in the school area and later circulated on social media.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zaidi Abdullah confirmed the incident when contacted.
He said the suspect was arrested under Section 506 of the Penal Code for issuing threats against the school teacher.
Meanwhile, Sabah Education Department director Datuk Raisin Saidi said the student was still permitted to take the examination despite being expelled from school.
He also confirmed the incident of the student smoking in the school restroom.
"Every SPM candidate must adhere to the existing rules in the school and maintain good behaviour to ensure the smooth progress of the public examination.
"The Sabah Education Department is committed to ensuring the smooth running of public examinations and that all SPM candidates are in a calm and comfortable state while answering examination questions," he said.
