Sex abuse case gets worldwide coverage

KUALA LUMPUR: The revolting news of the father who allegedly sodomised his teenage daughter has attracted worldwide coverage.

Wire services, newspapers and portals around the world picked up the story, which has drawn much interest and anger among readers.

Singapore-based Asia One highlighted the astonishing length of the charge sheet against the 36-year-old unit trust agent, who pleaded not guilty for allegedly sodomising his 15-yearold daughter “more than 200 times in the first three months of this year”.

The Straits Times reported that the accused also faced “one count of rape and 30 counts of committing physical sexual assault without intercourse on the girl since she was 13”.

A report by Agence FrancePresse on the court proceedings was picked up by Singapore’s Channel News Asia, Hong Kongbased South China Morning Post, and the Philippines’ ABS-CBN News.

It was also shared by Great Britain’s The Sun, This is Money (UK Daily Mail’s financial website), Middle Eastern Al-Arabiya and Nigerian Naija News, and the Punch.

Accompanying the story were headlines such as “Malaysian accused of over 600 sex assaults against teenage daughter” and “Man faces up to 12,000 years in jail for sexual assault against daughter”.

The reports stated that court officials took two days to read out the charges against the offender.

It also described the bespectacled man, in a grey T-shirt and blue trousers, as being “calm when the charges were read in court”. The man’s name, however, was not revealed to protect the victim’s identity.