Doing a 'Strauss-Kahn' in Johor? Molest charges on top doctor to be MYSTERIOUSLY DROPPED?

Molest charges against a top doctor from the Johor Specialist Hospital may be dropped due to undue pressure from political quarters, lawyers for his former patient fear.

"The trial was fixed for 19 Feb Tuesday but suddenly we received news that the charges may be dropped," lawyer Tan Poh Lai told Malaysia Chronicle.

"It is very rare and extremely difficult for a commoner like my client to get justice against someone who is well-known, wealthy and influential. Only after enormous effort, we managed to get the charges preferred and now the victim is being let down by a system that needs to be questioned. Is our judicial system being used to protect the rich and powerful or to defend those who need justice."

Poh Lai's client is a 34-year-old Malay single mother. The woman had accused Dr Ballan Kannan, 48, of hugging her and fondling her breasts at a clinic in the Johor Specialist Hospital in Jalan Abdul Samad at between 10.30am and 11am on October 19 last year.

Ballan, who is represented by Teh Poh Teik, had pleaded not guilty. Magistrate Mohd Azlan Shah Mohd Allias fixed bail at RM4,000, while DPP Mohd Afif Ali led the proescution.

More than half of medical industry's clients are women: Stand up for your rights

Meanwhile, PKR Women's chief Zuraida Kamaruddin has promised to study the case and escalate it to national attention "if justice was not delivered".

"It is not just a question of the victim being a Malay woman. We are talking of all the women in this country. Let's admit it. Many of us have at some time or other been subjected to some form of sexual harrassment or other from the male doctors weconsult, be it in the language they use or the unnecessary touch here and there," Zuraida, who is also MP for Ampang, told Malaysia Chronicle.

"It is despicable because doctors are learned people, undergoing long years of study. So all the more a doctor should set an example and not abuse his professional trust. Mind you, women form half of Malaysia's population and the clientele of the medical industry. They are entitled to the fullest respect.

The Strauss-Kahn example

Zuraida referred to the rape case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, in which the hotel maid had been painted out to be someone immoral, allowing the prosecution to withdraw the case and the judge to dismiss all charges.

"It is very much a man's world. So we women must be more brave and refuse to allow such things be swept under the carpet. Of course, we don't know all the intricacies of the Strauss-Kahn case and he eventually settled with the maid. But money cannot buy back respect for him. Neither can it ever heal the scar on the maid's dignity and self-respect," said Zuraida.

In the People of the State of New York vs Strauss-Kahn, hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo had accused Strauss-Kahn of rape at the Sofitel New York Hotel on May 14, 2011. Hewas indicted by a grand jury, and after posting $1 million bail and pleading not guilty, he was placed under house arrest.

The charges were later dismissed at the request of the prosecution which pointed out serious doubts in Diallo's credibility and inconclusive physical evidence. The judge formally dismissed all charges based on the prosecutors' assertions, including that the maid's "pattern of lies" had "made it impossible to trust her."

The decision sparked widespread protests by women groups all over the world.

Do your worst but do it in court, don't chicken out & have case dropped

Poh Lai, who is also the head of PKR Johor Baru division, is prepared for Ballan's lawyers to attack the integrity of her client but is adamant her client be given the right to pursue justice in court.

"My client is a very good witness and she is entitled to have the court hear her case. Even if the defence attacks her integrity as they are bound to, there is no cause to drop the charges. That in itself is highly unusual and suspicious and makes a mockery of my client and justice in this country," she said.

Poh Lai will be accompanying her client to court on Tuesday, and they plan to hold a press conference after the hearing.

Malaysia Chronicle