Sarawak police commissioner Aidi Ismail was probably red-faced when he had to admit that “a CCTV camera installed in the lock-up, but it does not have recording function and it can only be monitored by personnel on duty” after a 16-year-old girl was raped by another detainee placed in the same cell at Miri police station lock-up.
How often this has happened in the past is anyone’s guess! I would not want to make any assumption, but I am glad that the teenager had the guts to stand up for her rights.
But the paramount question is what is the point of a CCTV if you cannot do the recording? What is the point of carrying a gun if it is not loaded? There is no reason why a CCTV was installed yet unable to record the incident.
Another two questions have to be asked: How safe are the criminal evidences kept in our police stations when the police cannot keep a vital CCTV camera installed in the lock up cell in working condition? Can the evidences easily be destroyed or tampered by insects or humidity or simply human error?
Or, a more relevant question: Did anyone try to hide away or erase the evidence? Was there any form of corruption involved?
A detailed explanation on why the CCTV could not do recording must be announced in line with the policy of good governance and greater transparency in order to convince the public that there is no cover up.
The Government must also take the necessary legal action with regard to the company that was awarded the contract to supply and maintain the CCTV involved in the rape case.
The Home Minister must immediately order a thorough audit of the number of ‘non-recording’ CCTVs installed in all detention facilities and make public the report. This is important to prevent more rapes and mysterious deaths in detention like the case of Teoh Beng Hock.
It is also time for Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. Only an independent commission would be able to help bring back public confidence in the police, especially when there are many cases of police abuses already reported in the media these days.