‘ESTABLISH SOP TO HANDLE SPECIAL NEEDS PEOPLE’

Mother of autistic man held for ‘molesting woman’ says efforts must be made to increase awareness of condition

THE recent arrest of Ahmad Ziqri Morshidi, 22, the autistic man accused of molesting a woman, should be a landmark case for the authorities to establish a new set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) when dealing with special needs people.

His mother, Hasnah Abd Rahman, said efforts should be made to ensure more people were aware of autism and how to deal with people with special needs.

She added that autistic people should be handled differently, thus the need for the authorities to come up with a special SOP when dealing with them.

“The minister should make it mandatory for the Welfare Department’s officers to be present (when dealing with such cases) because they (those with special needs) cannot stand having things on their hands — imagine the handcuffs and all.

“They also tend to be fixated on certain things, some cannot be touched — they will flinch. That is why I hope the authorities will do something about this.

“I know from the messages that I received following the incident, that there are many who know someone with autism.

“They too expressed their concern because there is no law to protect them in such cases,” she told the New Straits Times.

The autistic man was arrested on his birthday on Sept 11 after he allegedly touched a 24-yearold woman’s chest after a birthday celebration at a restaurant.

Hasnah said Ziqri, her third of four children, would normally touch people as a way of communicating.

“Of course, we told him that he cannot touch girls, but he doesn’t understand.

“As far as he is concerned, touching a girl is like touching his friends because that is how he communicates.

“When you come to our house, he will touch you and say ‘Amyra Rosli and Amar Baharin’, that’s all, because they are his favourite actors. His favourite phrase is ‘Autism, New Straits Times ’ because he was featured in the newspaper,” said Hasnah, who is also a former journalist with the NST.

She said this was the first time her son had touched a person’s private part, probably due to his curiosity.

Hasnah said she doesn’t want people to judge her son as a horrible man or a pervert.

“I am glad that I posted the incident first so that people are aware. Imagine if the story broke and people who had no knowledge (of her son’s condition) shared the news.

“He doesn’t register anything. I had to tell him that he was acting in his favourite movie, Gerak Khas, because I don’t want him to have nightmares after his night in a jail or being handcuffed,” she said, adding that she did not blame the victim for lodging a police report, nor the authorities investigating her son’s case.

In Sepang, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said there should be a greater understanding about autism, which affected a person’s development and actions. Responding to the arrest of Ahmad Ziqri, she said his mother had explained that he (the accused) had the mental capacity of a 13year-old.

“We should leave the matter to the court,” she said after launching Taska Krista@RedQ, a childcare centre at the AirAsia headquarters here.

Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the women, family and community development minister, said the ministry would look into the matter.