Defence minister Khaled Nordin said this was among eight steps being taken to curb bullying at the military academy, following two recent cases which have sparked public outrage.

He said cadets will also meet the academy’s officials from time to time, aimed at giving them the space and liberty to disclose any case of misconduct, Bernama reported.

“This is to overcome the issue of cadet officers’ reluctance to report inappropriate incidents,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Khaled said the armed forces have also deployed more personnel as staff and trainers at the academy to increase monitoring of cadets. Each company of cadets has also been assigned a trainer.

“Trainers on duty have been instructed to patrol the accommodation of cadet officers after 11.59pm every day,” he said.

He also acknowledged that there has been an increase in bullying cases at UPNM this year, compared with just one each in 2022 and 2023.

Police have recorded statements from 15 people in their investigation into the latest alleged assault of a 19-year-old cadet, who is said to have suffered cracks on his ribs and spine after being stomped on by a senior.

This came after another senior cadet, Amirul Iskandar Norhanizan, 22, claimed trial last week to assaulting Salman Saiful Surash, 20, by placing a hot iron on his chest at the UPNM hostel on Oct 22.

The most prominent reported case of bullying at UPNM involved the murder of navy cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, who was assaulted by his peers non-stop for two days in May 2017, for allegedly stealing a laptop.

In July, the Court of Appeal found six former UPNM students guilty of murdering Zulfarhan, overturning the High Court’s reduced charge for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. They were handed the death sentence.