Wo­man raped by Bangladeshi wants jus­tice
'The Star Malaysia' - 2014-06-28
Vic­tim seeks help to re­open po­lice case
By M. KU­MAR ku­mar@thes­tar.com.my KUALA LUMPUR:
A mentally challenged woman was raped twice by a Bangladeshi worker after she was forced by her employer to share a room with him.
The 22-year-old woman from Tanjung Karang needed a place to stay when she came to the city to work as a cashier at a car wash company in January.
“Initially I stayed with my manager, but after two months, in early March, I was sent to stay in the company’s hostel, a shop house in Taman OUG.
“Only when I reached there did I realise that I was sharing a room with two Bangladeshi men,” she said, adding that she was the only female among eight Bangladeshi men in the hostel.
The woman said she asked for a room to herself but her request was denied.
A week later, one of her roommates raped her.
“I told my manager about it and begged her to not make me stay there but she ignored me,” she said very slowly in Mandarin.
She added that the manager told her that if she was not happy with her room, she could find her own place.
“My family is poor. I earn so little. I don’t have enough to pay. So I had to stay,” she said, adding that she was ashamed to tell her family about the rape.
One month later, the same man raped her again, this time at knife-point.
“I was very scared. I was lost. I did not know what to do.
“Then a few weeks later I found out that I was pregnant,” she said, breaking down into tears.
She finally told her problems to a friend who convinced her to lodge a police report at the Brickfields police headquarters on May 22.
“Police arrested the man but my employer got him out on bail.
“Since then there has been no action from the police and they have not even brought me for a medical check-up,” she said.
Her ordeal was not over as she said she was threatened by her manager who said she would be arrested for lodging a false report.
“I later found out that the police had closed the case after listening to my employer and the other Bangladeshi workers who claimed that the man was my lover,” she said, denying such claims.
The woman was speaking at a press conference called by Wanita MCA chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie and MCA Public Service and Complaints Department chairman Datuk Seri Michael Chong at Wisma MCA yesterday.
“This is a gross injustice. We not only need to bring her rapist to justice but also charge the employer for failing to provide a safe environment for their employee,” Heng said.
Heng urged the police and the Attorney-General to reopen the case and be more considerate towards the plight of those who were unable to fend for themselves.
She said that Wanita MCA have arranged for the woman to be given shelter at Pusat Jagaan Sinar Puteri for unwed mothers having a child born out of wedlock.
“We will aid her through the pregnancy and upon childbirth, she can choose to either keep or give the baby up for adoption,” she said.
Chong added that he would also look into the possibility of helping the woman sue her employer.

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