MP’S MOLEST CASE BLOWS OPEN: ‘I NEVER INTENDED TO TOUCH HER,’ SAYS MP – WHILE GIRL SAYS HE ‘HELD HER HAND & CARESSED HER SHOULDER’, SO SHE RAN AWAY FROM THE CAR IMMEDIATELY

PETALING JAYA: The MP who allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl claims that it is all a misunderstanding, reports Harian Metro.

The Malay-language daily’s online portal reported him as saying that he did not have any intention of touching the girl to the point that her family lodged a police report.

“I’ve known them (the girl and her family) for a while – almost two years – and the alleged ‘harassment’ did not happen in a secluded area but in a public place,” the MP said.

“I do not want to prolong this matter as I pity the student, who has a bright future.

“They are even saying I paid a bribe, but I did not know anything about the report being retracted until the family members themselves told me,” Harian Metro quoted him as saying.

The portal did not disclose the name of the elected representative.

It was reported that the police will call the MP in for questioning at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (Oct 30) over the case even though the initial report had been retracted.

Meanwhile, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) executive director Latheefa Koya said that the police must arrest the former minister as the 15-year-old student’s decision to retract her police report was a matter of grave “concern and alarm” and was also “highly suspicious and strange”. -THE STAR

MP accused of molesting teen claims ‘misunderstood’

KUALA LUMPUR ― The Perlis MP who was accused of molest by a teenage girl last week has claimed that there was “misunderstanding” between the two of them.

Harian Metro reported the Umno man saying he had no intention to “touch” the 15-year-old girl, causing the family to lodge a police report, that was later withdrawn.

“I have known them for long, nearly two years, and the event that was said to be a ‘molest’ did not happen in a secluded place, but in public.

“I don’t want this thing to go on because I pity the student, and she has a bright future,” he was quoted saying, adding that he was unaware the police report was retracted.

The news report did not name the MP it contacted.

Malay Mail reported yesterday that investigators from Bukit Aman will meet the former minister today, and he had told police he would cooperate with investigations.

The victim from Arau, Perlis, wrote in her police report that she was told by her teacher that the former minister had wanted to see her after he saw her perform with a band at Stadium Tuanku Syed Putra.

She claimed that when she met him, he invited her to play in Kuala Lumpur and offered her  RM4,000.

She alleged that during the discussion inside his car, the former minister held her hand and caressed her shoulder.

The girl said she immediately ran out of the car. – MALAY MAIL

THE STAR/ MALAY MAIL