DAP Wanita press police to explain detention of Mongolians who reported rape

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — DAP Wanita said the police must explain why they detained three Mongolian women under an interim protection order (IPO) after they reported two compatriots’ alleged rapes and abduction by a senior inspector.

In a joint press statement today, the wing’s international secretary Kasthuriraani Patto and its legal bureau chief Sangeet Kaur Deo pointed out that the police must state the basis of their investigation and IPO relating to human trafficking instead of the original complaint of rape.

“We want to make it clear that these two girls are the victims of rape and allegedly by a high-ranking officer who abused his position, power and authority to commit this crime.

“The other three girls are witness as the recipients of the first complaints in relation to the rape. There is no basis whatsoever for the girls to now have been arrested and forcefully kept under an IPO.

“Why were they detained if they acted in the best interest of the victims, which is to report and tip off the abduction and rape of the victims?

“The PDRM must clearly state what is the basis of an investigation in relation human trafficking is and whether anyone suspected to have trafficked the girls, has been remanded at all.

“What is the status of the investigation on the trafficker and on their trafficking syndicate?” the two said.

On April 12, a police inspector was arrested for allegedly raping two Mongolian women aged 20 and 37 years old after he stopped them at a movement control order (MCO) roadblock here.

In the Friday night incident, the two women alleged that they were stopped at a roadblock in the district while they were on their way home in a car they hired through the e-hailing app Grab.

Upon finding out that the two victims had no valid travel documents on them, the inspector reportedly took advantage of the situation and forcefully took them to a nearby hotel where he allegedly raped them.

Yesterday, it was reported that the three Mongolian women who reported the matter to the police have been detained for 21 days as part of a human trafficking investigation.

Kasthuriraani and Sangeet said they were also made to understand that all five, including the alleged rape victims, were handcuffed by the police.

“Placing the girls in a ‘safe house’ on an erroneous basis that they are victims of human trafficking, no doubt with a court order, and placing handcuffs on victims, could amount to clear attempts of intimidation and harassment of victims and witnesses of the rape,” they said.

They reminded the police that they should not divert from the main complaint, which is the alleged abduction and rape of the two women by a high-ranking police officer — therefore transparency in this investigation is vital.

They urged the police to clearly state the status of the rape and abduction investigation and whether the suspect will be charged or the five-day remand order be extended pending further investigations.

They also demanded the police to explain how the personal photos and details of the victims were leaked, seeing that the phones belonging to the women were seized by the authorities to assist in their investigations.

“Heads must roll on anyone found to have abused power in their conduct when treating victims of rape and possibly of human trafficking like criminals,” said the statement.