JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A 14-year-old girl in Malaysia has to undergo a second operation soon to save her right eye after she was allegedly struck by a ruler thrown by a classmate.
During the incident on Aug 15, H. Shalini told off her classmate for fighting and in response, the boy allegedly threw the plastic ruler that struck her eye.
Her uncle K. Letchmighandan, 39, said the girl's vision was badly affected after the incident.
The family, he said, had already spent about RM19,000 (S$6,280) on the first operation, which was carried out on the same day, to repair damaged tissue in her retina.
However, he said the doctor could not guarantee that her eyesight would return to normal.
"Everything looked tiny to her whenever the doctor told her to use her right eye to read, and this worries our family.
"We hope that the second operation, scheduled in October, will yield a positive result," he said at his house on Sunday (Sept 18).
He said the doctor had told him that the procedure would involve replacing the torn layer on Shalini's retina with silicon.
For now, Mr Letchmighandan said the doctor had advised his niece to use an eye patch to avoid any infection.
He said Shalini's parents had received approval to transfer her to another school since the incident.
"I have gone to the school and made arrangements for her to be transferred out for her safety.
"I was told by the teachers that the boy has been suspended for two weeks but no further action was taken," he said.
Superintendent Ismail Dollah of the Iskandar Puteri police said they were investigating the case for causing grievous hurt.
