7-year-old suffers bruising on face after allegedly getting flung out of seat on school bus

He had been informed by his wife that their seven-year-old daughter had suffered a fall on the school bus.

But when Farid Osman saw a photo of their daughter Fareen Airis sent by his wife, his heart dropped.

The area around the girl's forehead, eyes and nose-bridge was visibly swollen and the girl was in tears.

According to the father's account on Facebook, the incident had occurred on Aug 1 at around 7am in the morning.

Farid arrived at the hospital to see his daughter being wheeled out of the ambulance.

There, the Primary 1 pupil's form teacher informed him that based on the accounts of those on the bus, Fareen was flung out of her seat when the bus braked. "Her face kissed the speaker in front of her," wrote Farid in his post.

An illustration shared by Farid showed that his daughter was seated in the first row.

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Fareen did not suffer any fractures nor injury to her septum, but the doctor warned that her nose may require some correction after she gets better, said Farid.

However, Farid was later told by school authorities that the school bus driver had denied applying any emergency brake or hard braking.

He was also told by the Vice-Principal that the other pupils on the bus "did not feel any e-brake or any hard-braking while in the bus".

The driver had claimed to school authorities that he wasn't aware that the girl was thrown out of her seat and that her face hit the speaker, to which Farid reacted with some disbelief.

"I just find it odd that the school [didn't] find it odd [that] my girl suffered a facial injury due to a hard fall in the bus, and they think the driver was telling the truth."

He added later: "So it looks like my girl deliberately injure herself lah, hor? Is that what they are trying to tell me? Kept repeating about my girl not wearing her seat belt."

Speaking to AsiaOne on Sunday (Aug 11), Farid, 41, stated that the bruising on his daughter's face is still visible and they are waiting to see a specialist for a follow-up consultation. 

He also affirmed that the girl had lost a baby tooth due to the incident, photos of which he'd posted on Facebook several days later. "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it," he shared.

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Seeking footage of incident

Farid shared in a post on Aug 2 that based on his daughter's account of the incident, the bus driver had "stared at her" after she fell.

He is still hoping to view footage of the incident from cameras inside the bus and has made a police report.

In an update on Aug 5, Farid stated that the school had obtained the memory card from the school bus camera but they were unable to read the data in the card. It was then handed back to the transport company.

Photos of Fareen posted the same day showed the girl with significant bruising around her eyes and bridge of her nose.

AsiaOne has reached out to the school for more information.

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candicecai@asiaone.com