Two DAP Women leaders have questioned the role of 11 senior and lower-ranking police personnel, who face demotion or termination, in connection with the rape of a 16-year-old girl at the Miri central police station lockup.
DAP Women's international secretary Kasthuri Patto and its Legal Bureau chief Sangeet Kaur Deo, in a statement, cited reports of disciplinary action being meted out against the 11 police personnel by Bukit Aman's Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (Jips).
"It begs the obvious question as to what their role was in the rape of this 16-year-old.
"If there was any basis to discipline these 11, it must be the case that they did indeed play a role and there must be no cover-up on what their roles were," said the duo.
They added that it was unacceptable for police officers to fail in carrying out their duties, resulting in heinous crimes, such as the rape of those in their custody and care.
To further get away with it with only administrative sanctions such as demotions and termination, they said, was insufficient.
"There must be penal consequences," they stressed.
Jips director Zamri Yahya yesterday said the probe and action against 11 police personnel were in addition to criminal charges filed against two others on duty at the lockup in the early hours of Jan 9.
On Feb 8, the two police officers - Brase Omang, 55, and Edmund Jali, 44, - were charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Children's Act 2001.
This section makes it an offence for any person to allow a child under their care to be exposed to abuse. The law provides for a fine of up to RM50,000, up to 20 years imprisonment or both.
Kasthuri and Sangeet questioned whether authorities had considered pressing charges for abetment against the 11 other personnel connected to the case.
"It is simply insufficient, in these circumstances, that only the perpetrator is charged under the Penal Code.
"This occurrence of a rape in the lockup is a clear dereliction of their duty and a serious breach of the statutory duty of care owed by the police to the victim as she was under their lawful custody," they said.
As for the two police officers charged, Kasthuri and Sangeet questioned whether an acquittal for the rape charge against the 19-year-old suspect would affect the outcome of their charges for negligence.
"The outcome of this case must serve in the best interest to uphold justice for the rape survivor and to set a precedent that this should be the last incident of a person robbed of her and his right to safety and dignity, especially while being held in custody at a police station," they said.
The two police officers also face an alternative charge under Section 166 of the Penal Code, which states that public servants convicted of causing injury to any person due to disobeying directions of laws could be jailed for up to one year, fined or both.
The victim had claimed in her police report that the cell for male detainees in the lockup was not locked and that the accused unlocked her cell door and proceeded to rape her in the lockup's toilet.
The 19-year-old suspect pleaded guilty on Jan 12 before changing his plea last week. - Mkini
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