Teacher held for allegedly molesting student

IPOH: Police have arrested a secondary school teacher for allegedly molesting a Form 2 student, while concurrently investigating the victim’s father, who is suspected of extorting the suspect to resolve the case.

Ipoh district police chief ACP Yahaya Hassan said the 59-yearold male teacher was detained after the 14-year-old victim lodged a report on Feb 12.

“Initial investigations revealed that the victim was molested five times by the suspect between December last year and last month,” he told reporters after attending the police monthly gathering here Thursday.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 14 (A) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

Yahaya said the police also received a report from the teacher on Tuesday about the alleged extortion by the victim’s 50-year-old father to settle the case.

The victim’s father, who works as a security guard, was also detained to facilitate investigation under Section 384 of the Penal Code, he added.

He said preliminary investigations revealed that the victim’s father suspected the teacher of sexually harrasing his daughter and met with the suspect to settle the case by demanding a sum of money.

Meanwhile, Yahaya said the crime index in the city increased by six per cent last year compared to the same period the previous year, attributing the rise to robbery, burglary, theft and others.

“Last year, the crime index in Ipoh rose by 86 cases, totalling 1,446 reported cases from Jan 1 to December, compared to 1,360 cases in 2022,” he said.