School Bus Driver Locked 3YO in Minivan Without Ventilation As He Wasn’t Happy With Extra Workload

Sometimes, we aren’t satisfied with our jobs.

Maybe it wasn’t all that you had initially expected or even having difficulty getting along with colleagues.

Or sometimes it could be simply being unhappy with the workload, like having to write 27 articles in a day.

Still, no matter how unhappy we are, retaliating with criminal action should never be the answer.

Or in this case, a pseudo-kidnapping.

School Bus Driver Locked 3YO in Minivan As He Wasn’t Happy With Extra Workload

It could’ve ended a lot worse than the eventual outcome.

CNA reported that Zulkahnai Haron was given 10 months’ jail and fined S$3,000 on 6 Jan.

At the time of the incident, he worked as a minivan driver for a transport services company as a school bus driver.

The 47-year-old was also banned from driving for a year.

Yahoo News noted that his current job was that of a security guard.

Apparently, he had locked a three-year-old in his minivan without any ventilation while he went to buy food for more than an hour.

Zulkahnai was supposedly upset over not being paid more for taking extra students to school.

Which, surprisingly, is not an excuse to give a kid trauma.

Unhappy at Supervisor and Workload

The incident occurred on the morning of 20 Jan 2020.

After finishing his regular duties, Zulkahnai was instructed by his supervisor to pick up more students.

When asked if he would be paid more, he allegedly didn’t get a “satisfactory answer”.

The ex-driver would pick up two students, one of them being the victim.

After taking the other student to school, he asked the bus attendant to leave.

Which is actually against the rules since bus attendants can only do so after all students have alighted.

Zulkhanai then drove back home to a car park at Admiralty Drive around 9am with the victim still inside the van.

He locked his vehicle, went on to buy food and groceries before heading home.

Thankfully, a couple who walked past the vehicle heard the girl crying and calling out, all while still wearing her seatbelt.

As Zulkhanai had his number on the vehicle, the man rang for him while his wife called the school and photographed the girl.

Lying

However, when he came back, he told the couple it was alright as he only took a few minutes.

The child was taken back to the school, with the woman accompanying them for assurance.

She then reported the incident to a teacher and the police eventually got involved.

However, during investigations, he told the police that he had left the girl alone for 30 minutes to change his clothes.

The tale was that he had a bad stomachache and soiled himself.

Which, you could say, was a crappy excuse once CCTV footage of him at the supermarket was shown.

He eventually admitted to lying as he was afraid of the charges upon telling the truth.

And by the way, lying to the police is also an offence that could’ve made his punishment even worse.

Consequences On Multiple Parties

Unfortunately, the victim suffered some mental trauma on her part.

She reportedly could not sleep alone without her mother for six months following the incident.

The girl also had fears of taking the school bus, worried that the driver might leave her in there again.

Zulkahnai, as mentioned above, was given 10 months’ jail and fined S$3,000.

His lawyer defended him by saying that he was going through financial hardships and that his security guard job kept him away from vehicles.

A jail sentence would also be hard on his family, including his wife and two teenage children.

However, the district judge noted that Zulkahnai had also abused the trust given to him as a school bus driver.

He noted that if left alone longer, the child could have suffered from oxygen deprivation and may not have come back soon if the couple didn’t notice her.

The Straits Times noted that a deferment of his jail sentence to 20 Jan was granted to manage family matters and employment.

For his crime, Zulkahnai could’ve been jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$8,000 or both.

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