5 day-old WeChat friend molested me, says teenager

The victim’s brother catches suspect in the act of undressing the girl.

MIRI: A teenager from Kampung Pangkalan Lutong here claims she was molested by a 20-year-old man she befriended five days ago on instant messaging service WeChat.

Miri police chief ACP Khoo Leng Huat said the incident took place on Wednesday at 10.30pm when the suspect visited the 16-year-old victim at her home.

Initially, he said, the victim refused when the suspect suggested they go into the bedroom.

“But he took the victim’s hands and forcefully led her into the bedroom where he began undressing her,” Khoo said in a statement here today.

However, at that point, the victim’s brother happened to enter the room and caught the suspect in the act.

“He punched the suspect and in the scuffle sustained some injuries to his back,” said Khoo.

A medical examination of the victim at Miri Hospital found that she had not been raped.

“The suspect is being tracked down. Initial investigations revealed that the victim had not gone out with the suspect and only got to know him through WeChat five days ago.”

Khoo said the case was being investigated under Section 354 of the Penal Code which deals with “assault or use of criminal force on a person with intent to outrage modesty”.

Meanwhile, he said police were also tracking a 28-year-old local male suspect from Rumah Ulat Sungai Manong, Niah, who allegedly threatened to harm his own mother.

Khoo said the suspect’s mother, aged 48, lodged a police report after her son threatened to shoot her with a marble gun at 11am yesterday after she refused his request for cash. (A marble gun is a type of improvised firearm that shoots marbles through gas pressure from the ignition of denatured alcohol).

“The suspect is jobless and believed to be a drug abuser. It was not the first time that he issued such a threat,” Khoo said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation. -FMT