KUALA LUMPUR: Actress and television host Elly Arifin, 35, of HLive fame is traumatised following a "visit" to a faith healer two years ago.
The star of Astro First film Korsakoff said yesterday that the man who called himself an "ustaz" touched parts of her body while healing her at his clinic in the federal capital in 2022.
"I was not well at that time and went to this seemingly reputable traditional medicine man. But how naive I was — he molested me and this will stick in my memory like a mental scar for life!" said Elly at the press preview of Korsakoff in TGV Cinema Pavilion Bukit Jalil yesterday.
The film in which she plays Jelita, a woman suffering from Korsakoff Syndrome and is kidnapped by four vengeful people, is directed bt Opie Zami and premieres on Astro First on March 14.
Elly subsequently lodged a police report against the faith healer and he was arrested a few days later.
She learnt from police that the culprit was "not a first time offender."
"Malaysian women, please be extra alert. There are many sexist monsters out there. If any of them sexually harasses you in the slightest way, make a police report fast!"
Elly, whose brave stand was supported by Korsakoff producer Nur Aminahtul Mardiah Mohd Nor, hopes to co-produce films about women's battles against sexual predators in future.
"We must create awareness against these monsters, who can be anywhere," she said, adding that the 2019 Hollywood film Bombshell was a good film on that topic.