Sarawak minister urges public to stop sharing video of school axe attack

Fatimah Abdullah, Sarawak’s Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister, appealed for the public to stop posting the video of a 16-year-old student attacking a teacher with an axe at a private school in Kuching. She cautioned that online distribution could worsen trauma, invite harassment and violate the privacy of the children involved. The episode unfolded at about 8.03 am when a teacher attempted to confiscate a sharp object; the student, who had arrived with firecrackers, allegedly injured the teacher’s hand with the axe.

Police detained the teenager, who was later transferred to the psychiatric ward of Sarawak General Hospital, and the case is being pursued under Section 324 of the Penal Code and Section 6(1) of the Explosives Act 1957. The minister stressed the need to protect the school community’s safety while handling the matter with compassion, noting the student’s expressed feelings of loneliness on Facebook. She called for restraint, urging the public not to pass judgment or spread unverified information while the investigation proceeds.