The victim, in Primary 1, was alleged to have been beaten by the student on Tuesday, and was admitted to Sibu hospital by the boarding school authority in an unconscious state.
The boy succumbed to his injuries yesterday.
Sarawak police chief Amer Awal said the victim’s father, a 35-year-old farmer, lodged a police report on Tuesday after he was told by a teacher at the school that his son was unconscious and had been admitted to Sibu Hospital.
“When the father arrived at the hospital, he learned that his son had suffered serious head injuries and had bruises on some parts of his body,” Amer was quoted as saying by The Borneo Post.
He added that following the victim’s death at 3.30pm, the police went to the school to arrest the 12-year-old suspect.
“We are investigating the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. The suspect has been released on police bail as he is scheduled to sit for his Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) exams next month,” Amer told the Sarawak-based daily.
According to the police, initial investigations showed that the incident took place at the hostel when the suspect beat the victim with his hands and also kicked him.
He added that the suspect claimed he hit the victim for constantly teasing him and making fun of his father’s name.
Police are now setting up a task force that will be headed by the Kapit district police chief to probe the matter.
“We will leave no stone unturned. I view this incident very seriously. We will be recording the statement of the school headmaster, teachers and hostel warden to find out how this sort of thing could have happened.
“I do not believe no one knew what was going on because I feel it must have been happening for some time prior to the incident taking place,” Amer was quoted as saying by The Borneo Post.
He added that a post-mortem has been scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.