KUALA LUMPUR: Parents in Malaysia are increasingly becoming frustrated over the rising number of sexual assaults, harassment and molestation of young girls in schools across the country. Late last week, a new case erupted in Kemaman that saw a hostel warden molest repeatedly at least 6 female students over a three month period. “I don't know what to think right now,” began Usmanah Taranan, a mother of two in Kuala Lumpur, who told Bikyamasr.com that she did not allow her two daughters to go away for a few weeks this summer because of the attacks against young girls. “First you have the teachers who are forcing girls to have sex, then the ones who are watching them and filming them naked and now molesting girls. What is wrong with our country,” she asked. According to the girls, the incidents, which started in May, were committed by a 29-year-old man. Local news reports suggest the ward is married and had molested at least 6 girls aged between 9- and 14-years-old at a hostel during his “rounds” to ensure all was well. Sources said the warden would go into the girls' rooms late at night while other dormitory residents were asleep. The girls, speaking through the police, said that the warden would touch the girls' private parts to “satisfy his lust.” Though deeply traumatized, “the girls were initially afraid to report the incidents as the warden had threatened to deny the allegations and take serious disciplinary action against them,” police officials said. However, after being repeatedly molested, the girls finally “mustered the courage to lodge a report against the warden.” Terengganu CID chief Asst Comm K. Manoharan said the students told one of their teachers last Tuesday about being the warden's victims on a frequent basis. “A teacher brought the girls to the Kemaman police station, where a report was lodged. “The police wasted no time in detaining the warden at the hostel based on the report,” he told a press conference. He said the suspect has been remanded until August 7 to facilitate investigations. This latest incident has once again highlighted the growing frustration for many women, and mothers and fathers, in Malaysia who continue to face sexual violence in the country.
