KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — A 36-year-old businessman has been charged with assaulting a 28-year-old foreign woman at a Kuala Lumpur club earlier this month, after the case drew renewed calls for police to reopen the investigation.

Wangsa Maju district police chief Assistant Commissioner Annas Sulaiman said police referred the case to prosecutors on August 11, before the suspect was charged on August 13 under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, The Star reported today.

“The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge,” he was quoted as saying.

Annas said the victim lodged a police report on August 6, with the initial investigation conducted under Sections 323 and 506 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation.

The case resurfaced after Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng on Friday urged Bukit Aman to reopen the investigation into the alleged assault.

The woman claimed she was repeatedly punched in the head, left eye and stomach after being taken to a VIP room at a club on August 4 and telling one of the men there that she could not understand him.

She also alleged that a third man was later brought into the room and handed a gun to the main aggressor, who pointed it at her while threatening her.

The woman further claimed she was ordered to take a bag containing what she suspected were drugs out of the club but refused, before being allowed to leave about 9pm after her friend intervened.