A YEAR Two female student who was injured after being hit by a ceiling fan that fell during a lesson four years ago has been awarded RM6,000 in damages after winning part of her civil suit.
The victim, now 12, filed the suit in January 2024 through her father after suffering fractures to both fingers of her left hand and soft tissue injuries to the middle of her chest.
Selama, Perak Magistrate R Prabakaran ordered the headmaster of a primary school in Selama and four other defendants to pay the damages.
The defendants involved are the Larut Matang and Selama District Education Officers, the Perak State Director of Education, the Director-General of Education of the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) and the Malaysian Government.
The court found that the first to fourth defendants failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that the ceiling fan was in a safe and well-maintained condition.
The damages awarded included general damages for pain and suffering, but the court rejected the claims for special, punitive and exemplary damages.
In a judgment dated March 23, the court ruled that the risk of a ceiling fan falling was something that could be reasonably expected because it involved heavy equipment that required constant maintenance.
The court also emphasised that the failure to maintain reasonable maintenance was the cause of negligence, in addition to taking into account the efforts of the first to fourth defendants to visit the victim and organise a ceremony where consolation was given to the family as a sign of concern and apology. – March 26, 2026
