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Saturday, October 01, 2022

Charge him in court, MP demands over ‘lewd’ lecturer case




Charge him in court, MP demands over ‘lewd’ lecturer case


Act swiftly when a student alleges sexual harassment, says MP Kasthuri Patto.


PETALING JAYA: An MP says a lecturer sacked by Universiti Teknologi Mara for alleged sexual harassment of a former student should be hauled to court.

She also rebuked the higher education and home ministries for their inaction.

Kasthuri Patto, MP for Batu Kawan, asked why the two ministries have been mum on the incident involving Farah Azuin Abdul Razak, 23, who accused a lecturer of sexually harassing her over a year ago.

“(We) have yet to hear from the minister of higher education nor the home minister. There is also a lack of action by both ministries,” she told FMT.

Following FMT’s report yesterday UiTM said it had immediately sacked the lecturer after an internal investigation and a disciplinary committee finding.

Farah had lodged a police report against the lecturer in Tangkak, Johor, on June 2, 2021 claiming he had called her at 12.30am that day to do a survey about sex and had asked her to join him in self pleasure.

Kasthuri said sacking the lecturer was merely the tip of the iceberg. She called for him to be charged in court and for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to probe him for attempting to bribe Farah with RM20,000 to close the case.

The lecturer has filed a suit against Farah for allegedly exposing his private life and identifying the institution. She denied the lecturer’s allegations, saying his identity had been exposed by netizens.


She claimed the suit was aimed at intimidating her after she turned down the RM20,000 offer.

Meanwhile, All Women’s Action Society (Awam) said it is important to ensure such cases are handled in a sensitive manner, including updating victims on the progress and outcomes of investigations.

Prior to UiTM’s announcement of the sacking, Farah had expressed disappointment the institution had not taken any action against the lecturer and did not give her any updates on the university’s internal investigation.

Awam information and communications officer Jernell Tan urged the university to uphold its mandate in prioritising and protecting the wellbeing of students.

She added the university could have suspended the lecturer upon receiving a report of the incident pending the internal investigation.

The university should also consider having a standard timeline not just for the investigation but also for when a decision is made and communicated this to the victim, she said.

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