The joint statement called for Putrajaya to pay serious attention to the issue which was first revealed by 17-year-old Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, who later became subject to rape threats from a classmate.

The MPs urged the government to review the standard procedures and policies in place to probe reports of such cases in schools and other educational institutions.

“We urge the government to take a serious and caring attitude, looking out for the complainants’ interests, particularly school students, by handling this issue immediately,” they said in a joint statement.

“We also call for the prime minister to state his commitment to ensuring the safety of students in school. Students should feel safe in school and protected by their teachers, not the other way around.”

The most prominent signatories to the statement were two members of the current administration – tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri and deputy entrepreneur development and cooperatives minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.

The other MPs included Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Azalina Othman Said, former deputy prime minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, former ministers Teresa Kok and Yeo Bee Yin, as well as Hannah Yeoh, Teo Nie Ching, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis and Fuziah Salleh, who were all deputy ministers under the former PH administration.

The claim made by Ain on TikTok involves a physical fitness and health education teacher at a school, who was alleged to have made an extreme joke purportedly encouraging his students to commit rape.

Her claim then led to other students and former pupils speaking out over similar experiences in school, with the hashtag #MakeSchoolASaferPlace trending on social media.

It was later reported that Ain received a rape threat from a male classmate, which her father, Saiful Nizam Ab Wahab, reported to the police. The student later apologised for making the threat, and Ain’s father was said to have accepted the apology.