TELUK INTAN, Aug 22 — A secondary school student has been awarded RM129,040 in damages after the Sessions Court here found her school and two teachers liable for negligence over an incident in which she was scalded by boiling porridge during a programme in 2022.
According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), Judge Gan Peng Kun ruled yesterday that the defendants failed in their duty of care by allowing a mathematics class to be held inside the cooking area and by delaying the girl’s transfer to hospital following the accident at SMK Seri Intan.
The suit was filed in 2024 by the girl’s mother, M. Thanaletchumi, who named the headmaster, two teachers and the government as defendants.
According to the claim, the incident occurred in April 2022 when the student was instructed to attend a bubur lambuk cooking session. She slipped on a wet floor after being pushed by another pupil, causing her left hand to plunge into a pot of boiling porridge.
The teenager, now 17, told the court she had suffered lasting trauma from the permanent scar, often resorting to long sleeved clothing to hide the injury, and struggling with embarrassment and low morale since the accident, FMT reported.
Gan awarded RM100,000 in aggravated damages, RM5,000 for burns to her left hand and forearm, RM24,000 for scarring, and RM40 for the cost of a medical report.
Lawyer M. Manoharan represented the plaintiff, while federal counsel Hamida Abdul Kadir appeared for the government.