In a Facebook post, Hishammuddin shared a screenshot of a tweet by user @pedoqpop, who had shared a private message from someone who expressed concern about a brother who was allegedly being bullied by his seniors in his army camp.

The message said: “My brother is being beaten every day and forced by 12-14 seniors to buy them daily necessities, which is draining his pockets.

“My brother told me other cases before this have been reported to the camp’s superiors.

“But they would punish the bullies just by ordering them to march for 45 minutes.

“I have reached out to the police, who told me to file a complaint to the camp.

“But I am worried that my brother will end up like the late Zulfarhan if his bullies know that he’s been sharing his situation with me.

“Please help me as I am clueless about what to do next. Please do not disclose my identity.”

Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain was a former navy cadet from the National Defence University who was scalded to death with a hot iron by six students four years ago. The six were later sentenced by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to 18 years’ jail for culpable homicide.

In his post asking the person to come forward, Hishammuddin promised that the person’s identity would be kept secret.

“The deputy defence minister has been ordered to look at this matter discretely. If this bullying incident is proven true, we will take stern action,” he said.