Youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh said the disciplinary board also ordered the students to forfeit their allowances, perform charity work, report regularly to disciplinary officers, and remain on campus for one month.

“The victim and the students involved are required to attend counselling sessions arranged by the student disciplinary board,” Berita Harian quoted her as saying at a press conference.

Yeoh said the ministry took a serious view of the matter, adding that “extreme jokes” were unacceptable in any learning environment.

She also said preventive measures included tighter monitoring by student affairs units, regular motivational and counselling programmes with the education and health ministries, and appointing liaison officers to run anti-violence and anti-bullying programmes with the police, including quarterly talks.

A complaint box system will also be expanded to allow students to lodge reports immediately, she added.

A 13-second video of the incident, which went viral, showed a group of students from the institute lifting a classmate and ramming him into a pole.

Miri police have closed the case after investigations found that the incident was a prank among friends.

However, the youth and sports ministry said stern action would be taken, and it sent two top officials to the institution to conduct an independent investigation.