By Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, on Thursday, September 4, 1980:
Lim Kit Siang welcome Police assurance of action on case of assault of 20-year-old girl by police detective in public in Bakri New Village, Muar
I welcome the statement by Chief Public Relation Officer at the Police Headquarters in Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur, Supt. Abdul Rahim bin Haji Hamid, that the Police would take action against a detective and two constable if allegation that they assault a 20-year-old girl, Hau Seok Chin, in Bakri New Village, Muar, Johore, August 26 are true. This was reported in the National Echo today.
The assault on Miss Hau Seok Chin, a coffee shop assistant, took placed publicly at a busy thoroughfare at the junction between Jalan Tengah- Jalan Rakyat, Bakri New Village, and it is essential to restore publicly dealt with and punished.
I have been in touch with the OCPD Muar, DSP Nordin Zainal Abidin, on the matter on Monday night. That night, Sdr. Yong Wee Yook,
DAP Assemblyman for Durian Duan, Malacca, and Malacca State Treasurer, and I visited Bakri New Village and met the other member of the Hau family.
I have written to the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Haniff Omar, relating the event of the public assault on Hau Seok Chin by the detective and two constables, and seeking an assurance that there would be no victimization of Miss Hao or member of her family for her courage in lodging a police report for such police brutality, despite the attempts by the Bakri new village headman to dissuade and frighten her from doing so.
Miss Hau has given me a statutory declaration of the events of the assault, sworn at the Malacca High Court. I understand that in the police report lodged by Miss Hau on August 27, it was stated that Miss Hau was slapped once. This is clearly not true- and although Miss Hau was told to sign the report, she did not understand Bahasa Malaysia to know what was actually written in the police report.
The people of Bakri and Muar, and I am sure the people of Malaysia, are following closely police investigations into this case of police brutality and atrocity by a few black-sheep in the forces.
Public-police rapport must be restored immediately by firm, stern and just action against the persons responsible for perpetrating such a brutal and atrocious public deed.
I have given notice to Parliament to raise this matter in the next meeting of Parliament, beginning in October and lasting till December 1980.