Media statement by Teresa Kok Suh Sim in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 3^rd June 2011:

PDRM's act of marking detainees with "X" and "tick" dehumanizing and derogatory to women

I refer to news report of a vice raid conducted by Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM) in Georgetown, Penang yesterday night. (Source: http://www.chinapress.com.my/node/221873)

PDRM crossed their line of authority and of human decency when they marked the chests and foreheads of the detained women with crosses "X" and ticks using marker pens as evidenced by photos captured by China Press.

In doing so, the police branded the detained women as though they were cattle. How depraved, dehumanizing and derogatory to women.

The police had no right to do so. It was completely unnecessary and served no purpose beyond public humiliation of the alleged vice workers. It is sickening that the police would employ such dehumanising tactics as a show of power and moral superiority over their detainees.

I remind the police that punishment can only be meted out by a court of law, and only upon those who have been charged and found guilty.

I urge the IGP to reveal the police's standard operating procedure in conducting vice raids and explain why PDRM marked the bodies of their detainees.

In addition, the IGP should send all the police officers involved in the raid concerned for human rights and gender sensitivity training to ensure that this dark blotch on the PDRM record is not repeated.

* Teresa Kok Suh Sim, Secretary of DAP Wanita & MP for Seputeh