KUALA LUMPUR: The case involving Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir marks the first prosecution under Section 507C(1) of the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2025.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed the historic legal application.
He stated the amendment involving Sections 507B to 507G of the Penal Code strengthened legal provisions against acts of bullying.
Saifuddin Nasution revealed that since the amendment was enforced on July 11, police had opened 11 investigation papers related to bullying.
“These investigation papers fall under Sections 507B, 507C and so on,“ he said.
“This shows that the strengthening of the law has enabled the police to take action.”
He made these remarks while winding up the debate on the 13th Malaysia Plan for the Home Ministry in the Dewan Rakyat.
The minister was responding to a supplementary question from Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (MUDA-Muar).
Syed Saddiq had raised the issue of the police’s allegedly slow response in investigating bullying cases.
The Penal Code (Amendment) 2025 Act and the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) 2025 Act were passed in December 2024.
These acts aim to address bullying more effectively and comprehensively, including cyberbullying.
Earlier today, five teenage girls were charged in the Children’s Court in Kota Kinabalu.
They were charged with using insulting words against Zara Qairina.
The charges were framed under Section 507C(1) of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the Code.
This section carries a penalty of up to one year’s imprisonment, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Saifuddin Nasution said the ministry wanted the police to act swiftly in investigating every reported case of bullying.
He also reminded all parties not to play up sentiments or create inaccurate impressions.
“When I reviewed the chronology and sequence of the police investigation, with the large number of witness statements taken in detail, I also felt sad,“ he said.
He expressed that the police’s diligence was overshadowed by one perceived failure to conduct a post-mortem.
“Aug 4 was the first time the police submitted the investigation papers to the AG (Attorney General),“ he explained.
“On Aug 3, Zara’s mother had lodged a police report after noticing bruises while bathing Zara’s body.”
He confirmed that the investigation papers submitted to the AG recommended that Zara’s grave be exhumed.
Zara Qairina died at Queen Elizabeth I Hospital on July 17.
She was found unconscious in a drain near her school hostel a day earlier.
Several other ministries also wound up debates on the 13MP motion for their respective ministries. - Bernama
