P3 bullies in S'pore school allegedly threaten to kill woman after she told teacher they bullied her daughter

The mother of a Primary 3 girl in Singapore notified her daughter's school in Sengkang after she found out that three boys in her daughter's class had allegedly been bullying her for many months.

After escalating the matter to the school and the mother of one of the boys, she allegedly received death threats directed at her daughter and herself, from a person threatening to "dissect her to pieces", "end her life in school" and "kill you instead and your husband".

The mother subsequently lodged a police report and escalated the matter to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and her Member of Parliament (MP), but alleged that the bullying continued, until her daughter was too afraid to attend school.

The school has since said that it has suspended the three boys, and is considering taking disciplinary action such as caning.

Bullied for months: Mother

The girl's mother, Yin Ni, penned an open letter on Facebook regarding the allegations.

Yin said she first discovered the alleged bullying on Jul. 24.

According to Yin, her daughter came home from school crying and refused to go back to school again.

Yin said her daughter disclosed that three boys in her class had been bullying her for the past few months, after she was asked to change her seat in the classroom to sit next to them.

They allegedly called her racial slurs, shoved her, damaged her stationery and erased her homework, Yin wrote.

Yin claimed that on Jul. 24, her daughter told two of the classmates to keep quiet during a lesson, and they retaliated by hitting her on her hands and back, and verbally abusing her.

Yin said she contacted the mother of one of the boys, and was later informed by the form teacher that the children had been asked to "apologise to each other".

But Yin's daughter continued to be seated in the same place, despite having reported the bullying to her teachers multiple times and saying that she wanted to change her seat, Yin said.

Yin's daughter had also indicated the same request on a worksheet to no avail, Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) reported.

Yin told Shin Min that the mother whom she contacted admitted that her son had hit Yin's daughter.

However, the mother apparently asked for Yin's daughter to apologise for telling the boys to "shut up", which Yin felt was "unacceptable".

Yin also claimed that despite her insistence, the school had declined to organise a meeting with the boys' parents, citing "privacy concerns".

Received death threats

On the morning of Jul. 26, Yin wrote that she submitted a "detailed written complaint" to the school office and subject teachers.

That same day, she began receiving a series of calls from unknown numbers allegedly harassing her.

After she identified herself to a caller as the mother of her daughter, she received multiple voice messages, in which death threats were made, Yin said.

A screen recording shared by Yin showed nine missed calls in just over an hour.

In an audio clip, a male voice could be heard using profanities and saying,

" I might dissect her...I might dissect her into pieces like you. So which one do you want me to do? Dissect her? Or end her life in school? Choose one. Or you either don't want one, I will kill you instead and your husband."

Yin said she and her husband lodged a police report the same day over the harassment.

She said that she continued to receive harassing calls at the police station, and was advised by police to notify MOE on the matter.

Yin did so, and also contacted her MP.

School took action, but bullying continued: Mother

Following the police report, on Jul. 28, Yin said she met the school's vice principal, and her daughter's year head and form teacher, who assured her the school would "take appropriate measures".

Yin told Shin Min that the school suspended the three boys for one to three days, and promised her that a buddy system would be implemented in school for her daughter's safety.

However, Yin alleged that the bullying continued.

She alleged that from Aug. 1 to 7, her daughter was attacked several times by one of the boys, which left her bruised.

On Aug. 8, Yin said in her post that she met the school again after emailing them to express concern for her daughter's safety.

She claimed that the school responded that they were "unaware" of the most recent incidents and that her daughter should have "reported it herself".

"My daughter is now too afraid to return to school and has been absent for four consecutive days," Yin wrote in the Aug. 14 post.

Yin expressed her hope that her daughter can be transferred to a safer school environment.

She also called for better accountability on the school's behalf and for them to impose "appropriate disciplinary action" on the other students involved.

School's response

In response to media queries, the school said the students who made the calls and threats were immediately suspended from school, and have also undergone counselling.

The school also said it has engaged with the parents of three students regarding their actions.

"Given the severity of the matter, the school will review and mete out further disciplinary consequences, which may include caning, after the police have completed their investigations," it added.

Additionally, the school said it has been supporting the affected student and engaging her parents since the incidents were first reported.

It said that it has put in place a safety plan for her to return to school.

However, the school said that its investigations found the affected student had " also engaged in hurtful behaviours".

It said that this would also be addressed to ensure that students "learn the values of respect and take responsibility for their own actions".

The police told Mothership that a report was lodged and they are looking into the matter.

Mothership has reached out to Yin for comment.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News