r underwear as a punishment for a colleague skipping class, a report said Tuesday. According to the New Straits Times, which said the women had complained to police, the 18 students were summoned Thursday to the National Youth Skills Training Institute and ordered to strip by two female instructors.
A student who spoke on condition of anonymity said the teachers humiliated and verbally abused them for four hours because a classmate left the institute the day before without permission.
"The instructors told us that they had received orders from their superiors to instill discipline in us and asked us to place our bags in the middle of the room," the student was quoted as telling the newspaper.
"They also confiscated our cellular phones before instructing us to remove our clothing," she said.
The student said the teachers also threatened severe physical punishment.
"We were humiliated beyond belief and some of our parents, when told about the incident, lodged reports," she added.
The institute's personal service faculty head, Rubiah Kassim, blamed the incident on a "communication breakdown between me and my staff."
"It was not our intention to humiliate the trainees and I admit that the teaching assistants had gone a little overboard in their attempt to discipline the students," Rubiah was quoted as saying.
"But a great many students here have disciplinary problems, from drinking liquor to lewd behavior, and we had to do something about it," she said.
Institute officials said they were investigating the incident, according to the newspaper.
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