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PETALING JAYA: Two politicians have urged the High Court to waive a security payment of RM70,000 for a Mongolian woman who had filed a claim for false imprisonment and sexual assault against a police inspector.
Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah and Kampung Tunku Assemblyman Lim Yi Wei said in a joint statement today that the court should also reopen the civil case after it dismissed their lawsuit for failure to pay the deposit.
The woman, Nandine, was one of two Mongolian nationals allegedly raped by Police Inspector Hazrul Hizham Ghazali during the first phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO) in April last year.
In addition to the RM 70,000 deposit, Judge Azimah Omar also ordered the woman on Monday to pay RM 6,500 as costs to Hazrul (the money would be paid as legal costs to Hazrul in case the court dismisses Nandine’s claim).
Hazrul previously requested that the plaintiff deposit RM70,000 to maintain her share since she is foreign.
Maria and Lim said that the High Court’s dismissal of their claim was a disturbing turn of events, as it instructed other rape victims that they must have at least RM70,000 in their bank accounts to successfully file a lawsuit against their rapists.
“The court’s decision has contributed to making the complaint process even more overwhelming for the victims,” they said.
Nandine’s attorney, Thomas Philip, launched a fundraising campaign to re-file a new lawsuit in session court and pay Hazrul RM6,500.
