PETALING JAYA April 27 : Bukit Aman has denied that the deputy IGP described reports of teen rape as “a joke” and alleged that headlines of two media outlets on the issue were confusing.
It also released transcripts of the interview to show what the deputy IGP had really said.
In a statement, it said the police take any report lodged “seriously”.
“It is the media’s responsibility to avoid the wrong perception among the public as investigations are still ongoing,” it said.
The statement was referring to two articles published on April 26 on Malaysiakini’s website with the heading “Deputy IGP describes rape threat against teen as maybe a joke” and a China Press heading “Pelajar wanita dihina bergurau”.
Bukit Aman further released a transcript of the press conference:
Question from reporter (inaudible)
Minute: 09.20 – 09.31
Deputy IGP
Minute 09.31 – 10.39
As of now, I was told the student has made two police reports. The first was on what she felt, focusing on the teacher’s action, and last night she made another police report on perhaps the jokes by classmates (which) cannot be accepted.
The statement added that the headings of the two media outlets “was confusing” and failed to give an accurate picture of the statement made during the press conference.
“The titles of the reports referred only to a part of the statement, and that is irresponsible and could cause concern within the public and taints the police’s credibility on the probe,” it added.
It further said both police reports lodged by the student were combined into one as part of the ongoing investigations which includes taking statements from witnesses.
“We have taken statements from the teacher, from the complainant and now the investigating officers are taking statements from the classmates to get additional information before forwarding it to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.”
On April 24, a physical education teacher was reported to have made jokes about rape during a class on sexual harassment on April 23, after a claim by a 17-year-old secondary school student went viral on social media.
In response to the teenager’s video on TikTok, former education minister Maszlee Malik urged the principal of the school, which is in Selangor, to take the matter seriously and open an investigation into the student’s claim.
