The police today stressed that they were taking the rape threat against a teenager seriously and did not view it as a joke.
Nothing in the case was considered a joke and the police take every police report seriously and are committed to conducting a thorough investigation, Bukit Aman Police corporate communication secretariat representative Skandaguru Anandan said.
It was clarifying the statement by Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani about a complaint by 17-year-old Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, who alleged her teacher had made a rape joke.
Every report that we receive will be looked at seriously, the Bukit Aman statement read, adding no report is treated as a joke.
Ain had also revealed that a fellow student had threatened to rape her after she exposed the matter. The classmate had since apologised.
Acryl Sani, in a press conference yesterday, had said: The student has filed two police reports. The first is over what she felt was an improper approach by her teacher.
The second report is regarding what may be a joke from her classmate, which she couldn’t accept.
Skandaguru said Acryl Sani’s “may be a joke” comment referred to the aspects that were being investigated, and it did not mean the issue was being taken lightly.
He also criticised Malaysiakini and China Press for highlighting the comment in the headline.
The titles of the reports referred only to a part of the statement, and that is irresponsible and could cause concern within the public and taints the polices credibility on the probe, it added.
It further said both police reports lodged by the student were combined into one as part of the ongoing investigations, which includes taking statements from witnesses.
“We have taken statements from the teacher, from the complainant, and now the investigating officers are taking statements from the classmates to get additional information before forwarding it to the Attorney-General’s Chambers”.