Sabahans in bid to free Petaling Street ‘stripper’

Whatsapp Group wants to send a message that Persana is not alone and needs a second chance.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabahan journalist Philip Golingai is reportedly making attempts together with his Whatsapp Group to free Persana Avril Sollunda, 32, the Sabahan dubbed “the Petaling Street stripper” by the media, and who is awaiting trial in jail, at Sungai Buloh.

Her case will only be mentioned again on May 29. She has pleaded not guilty. However, the trial will not start on May 29. If she’s found guilty when her case is eventually heard, she will face three months in jail, a fine, or both. She has one child.

According to Facebook, some Church groups have plans to bail her out. It could not be immediately established whether Golingai’s group was part of the Church groups.

In a personal “she’s not alone” piece widely shared on Facebook, Golingai said that his Wahatsapp Group has engaged a lawyer willing to do pro bono work but they are still looking for a bailor. “They are working to bail out the accused,” he wrote. “Persana might get her second chance after all.”

In the personal piece, the journalist said that he has made contact with Persana and established that she was Sabahan. She told him that that she doesn’t have any parents.

The journalist told her that he had put together the money to bail her out. Persana told him that she had the money but it was at her locker at the spa in Bukit Bintang where she worked. He was asked to contact her colleague, Jenny, at the spa.

Golingai sent a female colleague to meet with Jenny but two women “supervisors” at the spa wouldn’t allow her to meet with Jenny and neither would they give her contact. They took the position that it was better for Persana to stay in jail and “learn a lesson”.

Golingai was apparently at the magistrate’s court in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday when Persana was brought in at 12.11pm handcuffed to a tudung-clad woman facing a possession of drugs charge. Persana was in a long black coat over a short white dress with deep neckline and black boots with high heels. Her shoulder-length hair was tied in a bun.

The public gallery was filled with a dozen journalists. He saw three men with sling bags “suspected to be pimps, a woman (accused of stealing a tin of baby formula and other stuff) with her husband and brother, and two women wearing tudung”.

“I think no family members or friends here,” he WhatsApp-ed his Sabah group. “If she pleads guilty and is fined, I wonder who will pay for it.”

Golingai noticed that most of the accused (China dolls and Bangladeshi labourers who overstayed and Malaysians caught for drug possession) in the dock kept on turning their heads to the gallery to look for a familiar face. Persana, according to him, did not. “It was as if she knew that nobody would turn up for her in court.”

The social media and YouTube where her case has gone viral has been critical of Magistrate Zura Syazween Hamizan for ignoring her complaint that she was beaten.

It was not immediately clear who beat her or where the alleged beating took place. Zura responded however by saying that it was not the issue (in Court) and proceeded to read the charge again.

Persana, of mixed Dusun-Thai (Chinese)- Indian (Punjabi) ancestry, was charged in the Magistrate’s Court under Section 294 (a) of the Penal Code for allegedly committing an obscene act in public.

She was arrested by police last Saturday under Section 509 of the Penal Code for public indecency. On Sunday, police confirmed that she had tested positive for methamphetamine.

The social media has also reported that Persana took off her blouse and subsequently her bra last Thursday when she was accused of theft by someone and wanted to prove that she was not hiding anything on her person.

The story, as reported in the media, was that she did not settle a RM18 bill for her chicken rice meal at a stall along Petaling Street and wanted to avoid the bill by stripping.

She can be heard saying on video that she in fact paid for her meal, that she left the money on the table. Initial reports said that there was also a man with her, a Caucasian, who isn’t in the videos of her which went viral.

In the video, she is seen walking along the street, jacket in hand after having abandoned her blouse and bra which she earlier threw at a female hawker. She can be seen pausing, having her pictures taken by someone, and swinging around a couple of times in a pose before walking off.

Persana was reportedly a contestant in the 2005 Dewi Remaja competition and also tried her luck in Pengacara Jemputan Nona, a TV3 competition.

Among the pictures of her which have gone viral on social media is one with Huguan Siou Joseph Pairin Kitingan. Persana can be seen standing next to Pairin in the picture.

The Huguan Siou, who is also Deputy Chief Minister and President of the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), was in traditional costume. Pairin later told local media that he had seen the picture but could not recollect when it was taken.

“I don’t know her,” he assured the media. “Many people have their pictures taken with me. It’s normal. When they ask, you oblige. But I don’t remember her.”