Sunway Lagoon probes alleged harassment of Filipino beauty queen, daughters
KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Lagoon will look into the case of Filipino beauty queen and her two teenaged daughters being allegedly harassed by a group of men inside the theme park.
Its management said unruly behaviour in the family-oriented attraction will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with accordingly.
“Sunway Lagoon will provide updates to relevant parties and assist in any media inquiries on this matter,” the theme park operator said in a statement yesterday following the complaint from Ruffa Gutierrez and her two teenaged daughters.
Manila’s ABS-CBN News reported that Gutierrez had claimed that the “old men” had catcalled the group, made lewd gestures and snapped photographs of her daughters Lorin Gabriella, 15, and Venice Bektas, 14, in an incident that left them feeling uncomfortable and reduced them to tears.
The actress and former Miss World 1993 runner-up further alleged that the men became more aggressive when her friends warned them to stop harassing the family.
Gutierrez further claimed that she was buying food when the incident occurred on Thursday.
“My friend and I were buying food while my daughters were off to ride the roller-coaster.
“My daughters suddenly ran back to me in tears, saying that they were harassed by several ‘old men’ who also snapped their photos,” she explained in her Instagram and Twitter accounts.
She also tweeted that the theme park should not have let “creepy men” inside the park. She later uploaded a photo of herself and her daughters, with the caption “You mess with them, you mess with me.”
Gutierrez said she had to seek help from the theme park’s security guards to escort them to their vehicle as she feared for their safety.
The theme park has since apologised to her via Twitter.
Gutierrez, on Instagram Stories, later said that she would not let one incident make her generalise Malaysians and that she would return one day.