KUALA LUMPUR – Police are conducting an internal investigation against an officer who was accused of making an allegedly lewd gesture with his hands and mouth to a woman during a protest here on Friday.
The member of the force involved has been identified and is currently serving in the Kuala Lumpur area, confirmed KL top cop Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa, Bernama reported.
“The investigation has begun even though police have not received any report in relation to the incident,” he said to the outlet when contacted last night.
On Friday evening, a woman known as Intan – who is an activist and was photographing the protest – posted on Instagram claiming that a “uniformed and on duty” police officer made lewd gestures directed at her, which she managed to capture in photographs.
The post was then further amplified on other platforms including X as protest organiser Gegar started to circulate and share the photos and her account of the incident.
According to the Instagram post, the gesture was made more than once, which she suggested may have been to make sure that she saw it as she was standing alone. Another officer nearby was allegedly laughing at the situation.
The woman also attached several photographs showing two uniformed officers – one of them holding up a hand near their mouth, and the other seemingly laughing – which she took at the human rights protest in support of Palestine, Yemen and Lebanon, where the alleged harassment took place.
The demonstration was organised by Gegar and was planned to start at the German Embassy where protesters will march to the US Embassy. Photos of the protest on social media showed heavy police presence and several participants claimed they were not allowed to be in closer proximity with the embassy compound.
Meanwhile, another circulating post of a screenshot showed a comment from another woman alleging that the same officer sexually harassed her over the phone in October. She claimed that the officer was handling a sexual assault case she reported, which she said intimidated her from taking further action.
Following the harassment allegations, the group posted on social media that Intan will lodge a police report today at 10.30am at the Dang Wangi police headquarters, and they also welcomed the public to join and stand in solidarity with the victim. – December 16, 2024