AG to look into rape case of 3 underage girls - Malaysiakini

PUTRAJAYA: Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has directed the Chambers to look into the allegations of the parents of three underage rape survivors that the investigating officer had failed to attend the trial and the accused, who is out on bail, was harassing his victims.

“The A-G has expressed shock over the claims in the memorandum especially those involving the Investigating Officer (IO) and promised to look into the matter as well as ensure that the trial runs smoothly after this,” said Mohamad Amsyari Mohamad Suhaimi, the Chambers’ public relations officer.

At about 10.40am on Monday, several social activists and the parents of three under-aged rape victims handed a memorandum highlighting the failure of the IO to appear during the trial and claiming the suspect had been intimidating his victims.

Mohamad Amsyari, who took the memorandum up to Abdul Gani, came back down 30 minutes later.

He said Abdul Gani could not meet them because he had to leave for another engagement outside the office but that the AG had taken a look at the memorandum and had asked the Prosecution division to look into the matter seriously.

The memorandum, submitted by K. Balasupramaniam, Community Care Network representatives Michael Chang and Anita Lim and the parents of the three girls - aged 10, 12 and 13 - carried the signatures of 1,279 women.

Balasupramaniam said the 2006 Ampang case had been postponed in January last year because both the IO and interpreter were absent; it was postponed again in August because the medical report was not ready and the IO was absent, and again in December as the IO was absent.

He said the parents were upset with the repeated postponements because the girls were affected emotionally every time they had to appear in court in relation to the case.

“The parents lodged a police report after they managed to record a telephone conversation between the suspect and the eldest victim and we are now asking the A-G to look into revoking the bail and placing the suspect in police custody,” he told reporters at the AG’s Chambers on Monday.

Balasupramaniam said the accused had been recorded asking one of his victims to say “I have forgotten” to any question asked of her in court so the matter would be settled quickly, as well as to coax her siblings to do the same in return for “rewards”.

“My children are traumatised by the rape and now the harassment and I really want the trial to be over as soon as possible but this can only happen if the unnecessary postponements stop,” said the girl’s father.

The accused had worked as a maintenance worker at the girls’ apartment in Ampang and is alleged to have befriended them by buying them food and gifts before raping them.