Earlier in December 2018, an anonymous email surfaced online, detailing the shocking alleged sexual harassment and rape cases that were believed to have been committed by some employees of independent radio station, BFM.
As news of this email began to circulate, the radio station addressed the issue and assured the public that an internal investigation would be carried out.
Now, in a media statement on Twitter last night (7th January), BFM announced that two of its employees were terminated due to sexual misconduct after an independent investigating committee gathered sufficient evidence against the alleged perpetrators. None of the affected employees were named.
BFM Media Statement – 7 January 2019 pic.twitter.com/sQmfrkwk4g
— BFM89.9 (@BFMradio) January 7, 2019
Addressing the rape allegations, BFM stated that they were first informed of this in May 2017 and had already terminated the employee involved at the time. However, a police report was not filed due to the alleged victim not wanting to escalate the issue.
The radio station will also be reviewing its internal policies while also conducting awareness programmes for employees. An excerpt from the statement reads,
“We continue to strive to create a workplace where everyone who works at, and with, BFM, regardless of their gender, feels safe and empowered.”
In light of this update, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh stated that merely firing the employees was not enough. He was quoted by The Star as saying,
“The termination of these employees over the said rape and sexual harassment allegations indicates that there is possibly some truth to the allegations which would certainly expose the culprits to criminal liability.”
He also stressed the importance of the radio station’s internal investigating committee to hand over their findings to the authorities, as a failure to do so could “amount to the withholding of such evidence on BFM’s part.”
Source: The Star
“In the circumstances, I urge the board of BFM to lodge a police report over the matter forthwith and to assist in police investigations by disclosing their internal investigation reports to the police for the needful to be done.”
What are your thoughts on this latest development? Let us know in the comments below.
Also read: BFM “Unable to Confirm” Allegations Of Sexual Harassment and Assault
