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Assaulted and sexually harassed in police station
by K S Tan

A businesswoman who is a mother of four has lodged a police report saying she was assaulted and sexually harassed by police when she was interrogated at the Sri Petaling police station on the morning of March 24.

NONESpeaking in Mandarin, the woman, Lim Hui Hui, said, "The lady officer on duty at the Sri Petaling station asked me to urinate into a bottle to run tests on the urine, but my hands were handcuffed behind my back.

"When I asked her how could I take off my pants to do it, she squeezed my breasts and said that I just have to do it."

Lim also showed pictures of the swellings she suffered on the right shoulder, hips, thighs, left calf and wounds on her wrists while being handcuffed.

At a press conference held in the presence of DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and her lawyer Eric Tan Pok Shyong this morning, Lim said she filed the police report last Thursday (March 29).

She said she was driving to the Maybank branch in Kuchai Park, Kuala Lumpur, early on the morning of March 24 to bank in some cash when she noticed the headlights of a car behind flashing at her.

Police searched her car
Fearing for her safety, she drove back to her apartment at Dynasty Garden Condo in Seputeh.

That was when she saw the flashing blue lights on the car behind, which came after her. Certain that it was the police, Lim stopped and allowed the policemen, who wanted to search her car, to do so.

And upon the request of the police, Lim said, she followed them to the Petaling police station on Jalan Klang Lama.

NONE"I was there for almost three hours. They did not take any statement from me or allow me to make a police report. I told them that I could not waste any more time and I had to go back home to my four children.

"That was when the woman officer stopped me, took away my handphone, handcuffed me and told the other officers present that I was trying to escape. They all pinned me down to the floor and I was stepped on," she added.

"Later they took me to the Sri Petaling police station for urine test, for drugs. Why, I don't know. This was when I was asked to urinate with my hands handcuffed behind my back and sexually harassed by the woman police officer. The urine tests came back negative."

Lim then demonstrated how she was handcuffed and asked to produce a sample of her urine for the test.

Kok said: " I am very surprised by the humiliating treatment given to Lim when she was taken to the police station . She was handcuffed, sexually harassed and even the male officers joined in and pinned her down.

"What is even more surprising is that when Lim lodged the report against the police for the humiliation she was made to go through, the officer whom she was complaining about was the one who took down her complaint. I do not think her complaint will be taken seriously at all."

Kok also said that she would take Lim to meet the deputy chief of the Brickfields district police headquarters on the matter and lodge a complaint with the Disciplinary Section of the police headquarters at Bukit Aman as well.

'Police have been very unprofessional'
Lawyer Tan said: "Based on the evidence given by Lim, the police have been very unprofessional in handling this case. Looking at the scenario, it was 6am in the morning and Lim has reasonable grounds not to stop until she reached the safety of her condominium.

"There is no issue of obstructing the police from discharging their duty. She was kept at the police station for three to four hours, while her four children were alone at home. She was then forcefully arrested and assaulted in the police station.

"At the other location, she was again sexually harassed. The police have clearly not followed procedures set out in the Criminal Procedure Code. She was denied legal access and also threatened that she would be detained for one week."

Tan hoped police would conduct a thorough investigation into Lim's complaint as it was a serious matter that could also severely damage the professional image of the police force.




Tan Kai Swee, who hails from Kuala Lumpur, is a citizen journalist trained by Citizen Journalists Malaysia.