Meridian Secondary School student allegedly hit & slapped by other students at void deck, eardrum ruptured

During her lunch break on Oct. 3, a Secondary 1 Meridian Secondary School student was asked by a senior to go to a nearby Housing and Development Board (HDB) void deck to talk.

There, she apparently found a group of six people waiting for her, and was allegedly hit and slapped for close to 20 minutes.

The student was subsequently brought to hospital, where she was found to have a ruptured eardrum.

The school said it is aware of the incident and has since taken action against the students involved.

Allegedly hit and slapped by group at void deck

The father of the student, Zhou Yueliang (transliteration), told Lianhe Zaobao that he found out about the matter when the police notified him about it on Oct. 3.

Zhou said his daughter was asked by another female student to go to Block 541 Pasir Ris Street 51 void deck near her school to talk.

When she reached the void deck, six others were waiting for her.

For about 20 minutes, two girls allegedly hit and slapped her, apparently under the instructions of four boys.

The actions of the six people were caught on CCTV footage at the void deck, Zhou said.

He added that there were nine other bystanders at the scene.

Eventually, a passerby saw what was going on and called the police, which ended the assault.

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel also brought Zhou's daughter to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).

Bruises around eyes, neck & ruptured eardrum

Once the police told Zhou about the matter, he went down to the hospital, only to see that his daughter had sustained bruises around her eyes and on her neck.

She also told him that her right ear hurt and that she couldn't hear clearly.

The doctor recommended for her to be kept under observation, so Zhou arranged for her to be discharged but brought her back for a checkup at about 10:30am the next day.

On the way to the check-up, Zhou said an unknown liquid flowed out of her right ear.

She went for an X-ray at the hospital and her right eardrum was found to have ruptured.

Father intends to take legal action

Zhou said the incident has caused his family grief and distress.

He and his wife have been applying medicine on their daughter's external injuries, and these have healed, but her hearing in her right ear has yet to recover.

Zhou worries that she will never regain the same quality of hearing as before.

Zhou added that once progress has been made in police investigations, he intends to take legal action.

School took disciplinary action against students involved: Zaobao

Principal of Meridian Secondary School Mohamed Razali B Abdul Hamed told Zaobao that the school is aware that a police report was lodged and is assisting in police investigations.

He said with regards to the incident that a student suffered an ear injury after an argument with two other students.

"The school has been closely monitoring the condition of the injured student and has taken disciplinary action against the students involved, including bystanders at the scene," Razali told Zaobao.

The police confirmed with Mothership that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.

Top image from Lianhe Zaobao / Google Street View