Probe ordered into X-mark incident

The police will launch a probe into claims that its officers had abused their powers by chaining up and marking 30 foreign women detained during a vice raid in Penang last Thursday night.

Chinese daily Sin Chew quoted Penang chief of police Ayub Yaakob as confirming that he had received orders from inspector general of police Ismail Omar to investigate the complaints over their officers’ conduct during the raid.

“We will launch an internal investigation immediately, (and) if we find that anyone had abused their power we will take action,” he said.

The raid made headlines on Chinese newspapers last Friday, with pictures of women – suspected of being involved in prostitution – chained up in a group and with markings on various parts of their bodies, including an X mark on the forehead of one of the suspects.

The story sparked outrage among civil society groups, particularly among women’s rights organisations, who demanded for the incident to be investigated.

Ayub (right) said he took a positive view of the many comments and criticisms over the issue, stating his preparedness to meet particularly with women NGOs to discuss the matter.

He suggested, however, that the officers involved in the raid had little choice but to mark the women – 29 Chinese and one Vietnamese national – as otherwise they could have easily escaped.

“During the operation, three women ran in to a fashion shop nearby and pretended to be customers buying clothes.

“There were many reporters around during the police operation. You can also ask them whether the police had done anything more?,” he said.

‘Is this SOP?’

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) questioned whether the police’ actions were part of the force’s standard operating procedures (SOP).

MCLM’s Haslinah Yacob said it is important to establish that fact, as the police’s behaviour goes directly against the Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw), of which Malaysia is a signatory.

She also questioned if the police had made similar marks on eight men detained during the same raid, and whether or not the authorities thought to find out if the women were victims of human trafficking or at working at the night club voluntarily.

“I worry for my country when people are detained on the grounds of allegedly wrecking somebody’s marriage.

“I doubt that Malaysian taxpayers intended for their tax contributions to be used to fund such thing. If that is so, then I suggest the Rakyat demand a refund,” she said.