Malaysian police hunt Pakistani man accused of child sex abuse
Authorities are searching for the 25-year-old in connection with alleged assaults on three boys and a teenager in Shah Alam
Malaysian police are on the hunt for a foreign man accused of sexually assaulting three boys and a teenager over the past three months in suburbs just outside the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
The crimes were allegedly carried out in two adjacent neighbourhoods in the city of Shah Alam, a predominantly Malay-Muslim enclave about 30km (19 miles) from the capital.
Police believe the suspect, whose last known address was a flat in the city, is still in the country.
“To date, the number of victims stands at four, all of whom are believed to be students or minors,” Shah Alam police chief Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said in a statement on Sunday.
Authorities have been on the lookout for the suspect, identified by police as unemployed Pakistani national Muhammad Hassan, since Saturday following four separate reports filed by the victims aged between nine and 19.
Police said the 25-year-old suspect would allegedly stalk his male victims to find the right time to approach them.
He would dupe his victims by asking them to pick up items or help him book e-hailing rides, before proceeding to “punch and drag them” to a secluded location where the sexual assaults took place, Mohd Iqbal said.
The case is being investigated for sexual offences against children and forced sodomy, both of which carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail and caning upon conviction.
Malaysia has been cracking down on paedophilia in recent months – particularly online, following the implementation this year of licences for social media and online messaging services operating in the country.
Police and internet regulators arrested 13 individuals and seized more than 40,000 pieces of online child sexual abuse material during an “Ops Pedo” sting operation across several states last December.
In October, 22 people linked to a banned cult were charged with being members of an organised crime group after allegations that the company they operated was responsible for systematic sexual and physical abuse of children at its facilities.
