IPOH: The Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur received three calls from a maid here who repeatedly asked to be rescued after being allegedly raped by her employer, the High Court heard.
Riki Sapari, 39, a member of the embassy's staff attached to the Labour division’s complaints section, said he was at the office at about 11am on July 8,2019, when he received call from a person by the name of Awang, who sounded fearful and in a panic, asking for help to be rescued.
He said he subsequently received two more calls for help from her on his mobile phone after providing the number to her.
Riki was testifying during the trial of former Perak executive council member Paul Yong Choo Kiong, who allegedly raped his Indonesian maid.
“When I got the call, I told her to calm down, provide me with details, and run to the nearest police station to lodge a report.
“I also called the police in Ipoh, and her (Awang’s) agent in Malaysia, telling them about the complaint I received, and asking them to help her, ” he said in reply to a question by Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Jamil Aripin.
Riki said he also reported the alleged incident to his superiors for further action.
He said on the same day, at around 2pm, someone from the maid agency called him to say that Awang was not at her employer’s house when they went to look for her, and that the agency had also lodged a police report.
“When Awang was speaking to me on the phone, I also asked her whether she was raped or molested by her employer, and she replied (she was) raped, ” he added.
When asked by defence counsel Salim Bashir why he stated in his internal report that it was sexual harassment instead of rape, Riki said at that time he was not in a position to decide what actually happened, and had to leave it to the police to investigate first.
Salim pressed him to say why he did not just write down the rape claim as he heard from Awang, instead of writing "harassment".
“The file is for my notes only, not a file that I gave to the police," Riki replied.
On Aug 23,2019, Yong claimed trial at the Ipoh Sessions Court to raping his 23-year-old maid.
The offence was allegedly committed in a room on the top floor of his house in Meru Desa Park on July 7 that year, between 8.15pm and 9.15pm.
The hearing before Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed continues on Tuesday (April 6).
Three witnesses took the stand on the first day of the hearing. The other two were a police corporal and a constable, both photographers attached to the Ipoh police district headquarters. - Star
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