KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — A group of youths who gave their friend a final religious send-off at a funeral procession last week were arrested last night for flouting the movement control order (MCO) SOPs.
The 11 youths, aged between 15 and 35, are believed to have gathered in a crowd, with some acting as pallbearers during a procession for about 50 metres to a crematorium on Jalan Siram in Butterworth at about 2.30pm on June 17.
According to North Seberang Perai district police chief ACP Noorzainy Mohd Noor, the 11 youths involved in the funeral procession were arrested around the Butterworth area between 6pm and 10pm last night.
“All of them were found to have taken part in the funeral procession as shown in a 56-second video clip and all of the suspects have admitted to taking part in the procession to send off their friend,” he said.
The arrests were made in response to a video clip that was widely shared on social media showing a group of youths taking part in a funeral procession.
Noorzainy said initial investigations revealed that their 23-year-old friend had died at the Seberang Jaya Hospital on June 16 due to tuberculosis and his body was brought back to his uncle’s house in Taman Ratna, Telok Air Tawar.
He said the body was then transported to the crematorium by a hearse but about 50 metres before they reached the location, the group of friends decided to carry the coffin in a procession towards the crematorium.
“Based on what was recorded in the video, the funeral procession was against the SOPs of the FMCO so we opened investigation papers into the case,” he said.
He said a special task force headed by ASP Mohd Yusof Ibrahim was formed to trace all of the suspects in the case.
The case is beinig investigated under Section 43 of the Societies Act 1966 for involvement in unlawful society, Section 269 of the Penal Code for unlawfully conducting act which is likely to spread the infection of disease dangerous to life, Article 9 of the Prevention and control of infectious diseases (measures within infected local areas) (No.3) Regulations 2021 and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998.
