Cops to probe sexual assault claim on ex-minister despite retraction
(FMT) – The police today said they would investigate a complaint by a 15-year-old girl who claimed to have been molested by a senior politician and former minister, just hours after saying they would not pursue the case as the complainant had retracted her report.
In a short texted reply to FMT, Perlis police chief Noor Mushar Mohd said the case would be investigated under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
However, he declined to divulge further details in the interest of protecting the complainant’s identity.
Section 14 of the act states that any person who touches any part of a child’s body for sexual purposes commits an offence punishable by a maximum 10-year jail term or RM20,000 fine.
Earlier today, Noor Mushar said the police could not proceed with a case against the politician as the girl had retracted her report lodged at the Kangar police station on Oct 20.
The matter surfaced after activist R Sri Sanjeevan, who runs anti-crime outfit Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force, questioned the police for not arresting the politician, whom he claimed was an MP.
“Why is the said MP yet to be arrested?” he said on Twitter, tagging Women, Family and Community Development Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her deputy Hannah Yeoh.
