KUALA LUMPUR: MIC leadership is worried that the revelation of its branch chairman leaving the party after he was caught allegedly soliciting sexual favours in return for job opportunities could be only the “tip of the iceberg.”
MIC treasurer-general Datuk Seri S. Vell Paari in a statement said he was worried that there might be more similar cases linked to the individual.
“This sexual assault has been going on for four years or more and the number of victims could increase once the police investigation begins.
“What I cannot understand is why was there no police report made against him when he was caught in 2014 by a victim’s family. A lot more victims could have been saved from the predator,” he said.
Vell Paari said he had contacted Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said to seek her advice and assistance into the case, since she was involved in the tabling of Sexual Offences Against Children Bill 2017.
Following the report made against the individual, who was a school teacher, Vell Paari urged the police to arrest the perpetrator and start their investigation.
“This man shall not be roaming the streets and be near any underage girls as his actions, based on the voice note and video I have, is basically an act by a paedophile.
“I am sure that the victims are traumatised and some might have not been able to live a normal life after what they had gone through with this man,” the statement read.
Vell Paari also urged MIC members and leaders to let the authorities do their job. MIC, he said, should focus on helping and protecting the victims as well as their families.
Recently, the perpetrator left MIC following circulation of an audio recording of him allegedly promising a teenager employment in exchange for sex.
Vell Paari described the individual as a “sexual predator” due to the latter’s admission in the audio clip of his sexual trysts, and that he did not appear to be intoxicated while making the request.
He also pointed out that abusing one’s influence to coerce a person into sexual intercourse was rape.