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

In response to Mothership's enquiries, principal of Meridian Secondary School Mohamed Razali B Abdul Hamed said that the school is aware of an incident that occurred at a void deck near the school on Oct. 3, which resulted in a student sustaining an ear injury after an altercation which involved two other students.

"The safety and well-being of our students is our priority and the school does not condone any acts of violence. The school has been checking in on the injured student’s well-being, and also meted out disciplinary actions to those involved, including students who were onlookers," Razali said.

The school notes that a police report has been lodged on the incident and will assist the police with the investigation, he added.

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

Top image from Lianhe Zaobao / Google Street View