A policewoman had allegedly fondled the buttocks of her daughter in public. And when an enraged Wan Nurizan Shaikh Mohammad demanded an apology, she and her daughter were thrown into a lock-up.

The 48-year-old single mother and her daughters aged 20 and 15 - a college and a secondary school student respectively - were also berated for 'dressing like prostitutes' and held in police custody for 24 hours.

Relating her ordeal at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, Wan Nurizan said they were stopped by a plainclothes policeman at a stall in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur on Dec 23 at about 9.30pm.

Suspecting them to be foreigners, he asked for their identification cards.

At this point, Wan Nurizan said three policewomen in plainclothes appeared at the scene and one of them began to fondle her eldest daughter, Farina Hidayuh Shuib's buttocks.

"I asked the policewoman why she was doing this. She said she was the police and she needed to check. I then asked her why she cannot perform the check elsewhere as this was a public place," added Wan Nurizan, who works as secretary at a legal firm.

She said the policewomen then searched their handbags and the same policewoman who had groped her daughter chided them over their dressing.

The three women wore the same clothes during the incident at today's press conference.

'Tiga wanita samseng'

When Wan Nurizan demanded an apology, the male officer decided to arrest the trio. Their arms were allegedly twisted behind their backs while led into a police truck.

"We were screaming because of the pain. Our hands were badly bruised," said the single mother.

A footage of their arrest was also allegedly aired on Dec 24 in an ntv7 news programme, where one police official had described them as 'tiga wanita samseng' or three female gangsters.

After being arrested, they were taken to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters where they had to undergo urine tests.

Here the taunts allegedly continued. Wan Nurizan claimed that a policewoman told them that the prostitutes whom the police arrest usually dress like them.

Wan Nurizan and Farina (far right) were then detained in a lock-up for five hours while her youngest daughter was held in an office at the Jalan Travers police station as she was underage.

They were released at 9.30am the following day.

Yesterday, Wan Nurizan was charged at the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court for 'insulting behaviour' under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act. If found guilty, she can be fined a maximum of RM10,000.

Outraged by the whole episode, Wan Nurizan plans to sue all those involved, including ntv7 for criminal defamation.

"Do I have to wear a tudung (head-scarve) in order not to be called a prostitute? These are my daughters that they are accusing of being prostitutes, how do you think I feel? It is our right to dress the way we do," said Wan Nurizan as she burst into tears.

"I'm just a single mother with no one to help us (at the time). If we are harassed by the police, who do we turn to?" she asked.

Unnecessary treatment

Also present at the press conference organised by DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok was lawyer Sankara Nair.

He told reporters that the police could have issued a summons on the spot for the alleged offence committed by Wan Nurizan and there was no need to arrest them.

"She now has to seek legal remedy when she should not have been subjected to (such treatment) in the first place," said the lawyer, who was a former policeman.

He also questioned why Farina and her sister were arrested when they did not commit any offence.

Meanwhile, Kok questioned the professionalism of the police personnel involved in the incident.

"The policewomen doing the search on Farina were in plainclothes. How would someone feel if some stranger touches your buttocks without warning? Doesn't that amount to sexual harassment?"