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MP SPEAKS | Amid a dizzying number of Covid-19 cases reaching a new high of 4,029, incidents of rape tend to go unnoticed in the news.
Naturally, all attention is focused on the groups, the infected communities, and the speed with which the vaccine can arrive.
My biggest fear came true when I read about the case of a 16-year-old girl who was detained in the police cell at Miri Police Station, Sarawak, on January 8, 2021 as a suspect in a gambling bust.
She was raped while in police custody by another inmate the following day, January 9, between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m.
The case was highlighted by DAP Senator Alan Ling and Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail has ensured that the police will carry out an in-depth investigation into this monstrosity of rape.
This includes the suspension of the two police officers who were on duty at the time of the crime.
This is still appalling since, first and foremost, there is no place for a child in a dungeon at a police station. And the team that conducted the raid should have known that, as it should be in the SOP when detaining children.
Second, how did the rapist manage to gain access to and force the victim? Didn’t the duty officer notice that a person was missing from his cell? Didn’t you hear any sound at that time?
Was there CCTV in the cells as promised and announced over and over by the Inspectors General of Police and Ministers of the Interior that all police cells will be equipped with working CCTV?
Also, how are Bukit Aman or the Sarawak State Police Department going to investigate allegations of misconduct by their own men independently and fairly, given that the victim was a person in their own dungeon?
The greatest horror that can occur during a pandemic is when human rights, especially for children and women, migrants and refugees, the disabled, minorities and the elderly, are incredibly violated and when there is no reaction to it.
When rape cases like this are quickly absorbed and slowly fading behind the great curtain of Covid-19, this political emergency, bread and butter issues, education, employment, impending floods in some states, and leaks like the allocation of a colossal amount From RM35million to build three wards in Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s parliamentary constituency in Pagoh, Johor tends to take center stage.
Its occurrence, if it is not recognized, reprimanded and punished, will be repeated over and over again.
This incident itself, the rape of a minor detained in a police dungeon, should have shaken the nation, just 9 days after 2021 and shook Malaysia by reigniting the conversation about how critical it is to have the draft law. Independent Commission on Police Conduct (IPCC). to be presented to Parliament to be debated and enacted into law.
With this attempt to derail parliamentary democracy through an emergency, which will result in Members of Parliament missing not one but two sessions this year (in March and July), it is clear that this Government is simply not interested in doing what’s right for Malaysians hold our heads high and make us proud to be citizens of a progressive, democratic, just and equitable nation.
Instead, we have been pushed further into the abyss of a powerless PN government.
Underneath it all, the life of a 16-year-old girl is shattered by this.
For the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior, the Inspector General of Police and the Chief of Police of Sarawak: if this incident is not turned around, then it has not been able to safeguard the life of a child, a 16-year-old girl who was raped under the surveillance of the same people who should have been her protectors.
KASTHURI PATTO is a Batu Kawan MP and International Secretary for DAP Women.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author / contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
