Malaysia
Police confirm arrest of UK grad who made assault, rape, and death threats towards a supporter of teen activist Ain
Generic picture of the PDRM logo January 18, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — A man in his 20s who made death and rape remarks towards a supporter of student activist Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam on Twitter, has been arrested.

Putrajaya district police chief Assistant Commissioner A. Asmadi Abdul Aziz confirmed the man was traced to Kulim, Kedah and was taken in earlier for questioning but has since been released on bail.

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However, the police digital forensics team has taken custody of the suspect’s handphone for investigation.

"The suspect, who is a recent university graduate from the United Kingdom was given temporary bail while the process of investigations is concluded, as during the movement control order, some involved agencies are required to work from home,” Asmadi said in a brief statement this afternoon.

Asmadi confirmed that Ain, 17, was also called into the district headquarters yesterday to have her statement taken and to assist investigations into the May 10 report.

"The reason we called Ain in to have her statement recorded was to complete investigations concerning the report in Putrajaya which involves threats against the complainant only,” Asmadi explained.

He said the case is being investigated under Section 507 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation by anonymous communication, and Section 233 of the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998 for improper use of network facilities or network service.

Earlier today, Ain’s father Saiful Nizam Ab Wahab uploaded screenshots of the purported death and rape threats sent to Ain’s supporter by the suspect on a Facebook post.

The messages, typed out in both English and Malay, contained crude remarks of physical assault, rape, stabbing, and murder.

They also contained sexist remarks against Ain’s female supporter. The messages ended with the note to "watch her back” while walking on the streets.

Ain who is in Form Five this year, made headlines in April when she recorded a message on her Tik Tok social media account, calling out a male teacher in her secondary school for trivialising and making rape jokes during lessons in the presence of other female students.

Her expose has since triggered calls from both political and activist circles for sterner action against sexual harassment incidents and an overhaul of the public education system.

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