Malaysia: Police arrest over a dozen men linked to ‘gang rape’ of teen, over 20 suspects remain
Malaysian police have detained 13 men and are looking for other suspects following allegations that a 15-year-old girl was raped by 38 men in an abandoned hut.
The shocking story reportedly occured in Kelantan, a northern state, on May 20. The girl allegedly met a friend before being lured into an empty hut (described as a drug haunt) and the men brutally assaulted the girl for several hours.
“What we know is that more than 30 people are allegedly involved in the case, and we will not rest until everyone is rounded up,” District OCPD Assistant Commissioner of Police Azham Othman told The Star.
“When she returned home, she was brought to the Kuala Krai hospital as her private parts were still bleeding,” the investigators said. Her father then filed a police report on May 24.
The girl also suffered pains due to anal rape, the police noted.
“We are expected to wrap up the case in due time as the suspects between the ages of 20 and 30 came from the same kampung. We also cannot exclude the possibility that the teenager was also sodomised. And police have reasons to believe that almost all the suspects were high on drugs when they allegedly committed the crime,” Othman said during a press conference on May 28.
Several of those detained had tested positive for amphetamine, the reports said. The New Straits Times said a man and his two teenage sons were among those detained.
Police said action could have been taken had villagers reported the addicts’ presence.
“It is very disturbing to me that no one in the village was even suspicious when the closest neighbor was a mere 20 meters away,” Azham added.
Convicted rapists face up to 30 years in prison and whipping, but many on Internet sites wanted stricter punishment.
“We are seeing a prevalence in rape cases because boys are raised in an environment where they think it is okay to use violence,” Suri Kempe of Sisters in Islam told Reuters.
Image/CIA
