Sexual harassment is an unfortunate, horrific reality many people face every day, regardless of what environment they may be in.
Most recently, one Twitter user shared a traumatic experience her friend had to go through while taking the LRT from Pasar Seni to Masjid Jamek.
A man reportedly exposed his privates and began rubbing himself against her. However, what shocked many netizens was the reactions of the bystanders, who laughed at her situation despite the fact that she was screaming for help!
Source: Twitter
The Tweet understandably enraged Malaysians and gained a lot of online attention. Soon, just a few hours after the Tweet was posted, RapidKL responded saying that the suspect has since been apprehended.
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
On a relatively unsurprising note, Prasarana then released a media statement a few days later on Monday (18th December), where they revealed that a total of 22 sexual harassment cases on public transport have been reported in the past year.
Out of the 22, 21 men were apprehended by auxiliary police.
“One of the key learnings from these incidents was that the people who were harassed reported the incidents to our Auxiliary Police at the earliest opportunity, and worked closely with us to apprehend the suspects,” said Lim Jin Aun, Head of Group Communications and Strategic Marketing for Prasarana.
“Most of these suspects were caught within several days after the incidents were reported.”
“While we understand and appreciate the anxiety of such incidents among members of the public, particularly those who reacted on social media, we need to take note that the attention generated on social media might also hamper the efforts of the authorities in apprehending the suspects.”
Source: MMO
The media statement also addressed a recent incident on Thursday (14th December) when four sexual harassment cases took place within the Rapid KL urban network. An excerpt from the media statement reads,
“The suspect involved in three of the cases was arrested not long after the people who were harassed approached the Auxiliary Police at the stations.”
“In the fourth case, the Auxiliary Police gave chase to the suspect upon being informed by the person who was harassed but lost the suspect during the chase.”
“We wish to assure our commuters that our Auxiliary Police maintains omnipresence, in uniform as well as in plain clothes, within our public transport network,” Lim continued.
Source: New Straits Times
“Again, we wish to request commuters who have been harassed to approach our Auxiliary Police for assistance as soon as possible and work closely with us to apprehend the suspect. While sharing the incident on social media would generate awareness among members of the public, we do not want the suspect to give us the slip upon knowing the publicity generated.”
Well, we’re glad that Prasarana is not taking this issue lightly. There’s absolutely no excuse for such behaviour and the people perpetrating these acts should have appropriate action taken against them!
Also read: Malaysian Lady Warns Others Of Pervert Who Sexually Harassed Her Saying “Can I Hisap You?”
