Girls aged 10 to 12 years were forced to swim with python in a 'motivational camp' in Malaysia
The girls were terrified.
Some howled awful, blood-curdling screams. Some simply began crying. But all tried to escape.
The grown men standing around sprayed them with hose water as they tried to climb out of the muddy pit and away from the enormous python.
How did it get there? Those same men threw it in.
A video that's recently gone viral showed several girls, 10 to 12 years old, at a Kuala Kangsar Civil Defence Brigade after-school training program, which is supposed to be a basic "motivational camp" to help team-building, according to Malay Mail. The program, which was founded in 2012, was in its 32nd session. Some 1,600 children have gone through it.
As part of the program, the girls were supposed to undergo a series of "boot camp" experiences. One of them included running through a muddy pit and climbing up the slick side at the other end.
But four trainers and six assistants at this particular camp clearly thought they would add something to spice up the training a bit. That something was a blood python, a nonvenomous snake that's still large enough to instill fear in even the most grizzled of men.
In the three-minute video, nine girls waded through a mud pit, seemingly having fun at first. They clearly hadn't noticed what lurked beneath the murky water.
Suddenly, as they reached the other end, a wall of mud, the men began spraying them with hose water. Then a row of scales sneaked over the top of the water, revealing themselves - and the girls panicked.
They scattered, falling over each other into the muddy water. Everyone started shrilling shrieking with fear.
A few managed to climb out, but the men forced them to get back in the water. At some point, the snake itself appeared to exit the pit, but the men threw it back in, inches from the girls who were backed up against the far wall.
Each time one of the girls attempted to climb out, the men would again spray them with water.
One girl screamed "Cikgu, tolong," which means "Teacher, help."
While one girl in particular wailed and howled while kicking her legs in a heartbreaking display of abject panic, the men who were charged with caring for her chuckled to each other.
Eventually, the men were besides themselves with laughter.
It is unclear who shot the video, but it quickly went viral, sparking outrage.
"I condemn their action. It definitely would have traumatized the children who will probably be experiencing nightmares," Chiam Heng Keng, child psychologist and former human rights commissioner of Malaysia told AFP, adding that the adults involved must be "psychologically off their mind."
Noor Azimah Rahim, chairman of the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE), agreed.
"I was horrified. How can these people throw snakes into the pond and then expect the kids to be brave and climb out of it? This is child abuse," she told Free Malaysia Today. "The parents should also confront the principals for endangering the children's lives. How can they throw the snakes into the pond? This is a primary school, not a National Service stint."
All 10 of the men have since been suspended.
"We have also suspended four trainers and their six assistants. An investigation is underway into the blood python incident. It is not part of the training program," Col. Mohamad Noor Hassan, the head of the local Civil Defence Force, told AFP. "It is not our aim to traumatize the children. Having the python in the pool was never part of the program. It is a mistake. I am sorry it . . . happened."
The police, reported the Mail, have launched an investigation - into who leaked the video.
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