Ain to file counterclaim against teacher over ‘rape jokes

SN Nair said the duo will also name the education minister, the Selangor education director and the school principal as defendants for alleged negligence in failing to protect her.

Nair said he has received instructions from Ain and her father, Saiful Nizam, to file a counterclaim against the teacher, Khairul Nizam Sanuddin, and the rest for tort of intentionally inflicting emotional distress (IIED).

He said IIED was an actionable tort as Ain had suffered emotional distress over the “rape jokes” allegedly made during physical education class at the school in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, and in the aftermath.

“They have instructed me to file the defence and counterclaim as the matter is of extreme importance because they contend that the allegations of defamation are wholly untenable and they will vehemently the same when the defence is filed,” he told FMT.

“Clearly the government can’t escape liability in this matter because the teacher is a civil servant in their employ. Hence they are vicariously liable.”

Khairul, 43, filed the suit in the Shah Alam sessions court on Nov 26, claiming the alleged defamatory statements against him were made between April 23 and 24 on her social media accounts, as well as in media interviews from April 26 to 30.

He claimed that Ain’s remarks were widely read and shared on social media.

Nair said the education minister ought to have ordered an inquiry into such serious allegations when the matter first erupted in May 2021.

“But, unfortunately, he seemed to have abdicated his statutory duty and has remained lackadaisically indolent and uncannily reticent,” he said.