KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — The families of three out of nine students who were victims of sexual assaults by the principal of a tahfiz centre in Kepong plan to meet three authorities to help overcome abuses in the tahfiz institution.
Social activist Syed Azmi Al Habshi, who represented the family, said the three were the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Ministry of Education and the Office of the Mufti.
“The meeting, among others, wants to find a solution because there is a problem in the tahfiz institution that needs to be rectified.
“We will write a detailed report to the three authorities to look at the causes of the incidents and improvements that can be taken in the near future,” he said when met by reporters after meeting with the families of the victims at the Al Mukarammah Mosque in Bandar Sri Damansara here today.
He said the report of the meeting with the three families was ready to be handed over to the three authorities concerned.
Meanwhile, Syed Azmi also commented on the recommendations of several parties including the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mujahid Yusuf that the tahfiz centre be closed if sexual harassment was found.
The students, teachers and the tahfiz centre should not be punished by closing the tahfiz as the offences were committed by a single perpetrator, Syed Azmi said.
The media recently reported that a principal of a tahfiz centre on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur was arrested by police after being suspected of sexual harassment as well as sodomising teenaged students over the past few months.
It was learned that the incident was revealed by several teachers at the tahfiz centre located in Kepong after receiving complaints from nine of his 11-year-old students who were forced to commit carnal acts with the suspect who was in his early 30s.
The man was slapped with 11 charges at the Putrajaya Sessions Court last Wednesday.
Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob in a statement yesterday said an investigation had been carried out on the case and the suspect had been charged under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017. — Bernama
