Rape is a serious allegation and it should never be taken lightly.
But what happens when the rape victim is taken into custody as well?
The #JusticeForNicole movement and petition recently came to be after it is believed that a Nigerian rape victim by the name of Nicole was arrested for not having legal documents while her alleged rapists went free.
Here’s what we’ve found out so far.
As according to viral postings, Nicole is currently in the custody of the Malaysian authorities for not having the right documents to be in our country after she was allegedly gang-raped by a group of Malaysian men in Kuala Lumpur, apparently led by a wealthy business man’s son.
She had met the man in Changkat when he asked her out and later took her to a hotel owned by his father. He had apparently also colluded with some of his friends who were waiting at the hotel so that they could take turns raping her. She was allegedly gang-raped and beaten up before she was taken to another location where another group of friends had their way with her, as elaborated by Instablog9ja.
The group of men had also apparently filmed the entire incident without their faces in the shots and threatened to release the video online should Nicole expose them. Nicole was rescued and the alleged rapists were arrested when someone had heard Nicole shouting.
The men were then released after the apparent involvement of the rich father of the primary suspect. However, Nicole was taken into police custody where she will be facing jail time for not having legal documents before she is deported.
It is believed that Nicole’s arrest was a move to cover up the injustice of the men going free.
On the other hand, as according to local media sources and the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) Kuala Lumpur chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim, the primary suspect and two other men were arrested on the 4th of June over an assault allegation and was released on the 9th of June after a remand extension was denied.
Nicole then made another police report on the 9th of June after not wanting to report the rape which took place on the same day as her assault.
“Initially, the victim did not want to lodge a report over the rape incident and refused to be examined at the hospital. However, she decided to lodge the second police report after being admitted at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) for three days and after being advised by the police,” he said in a statement as according to Bernama.
The police then arrested Nicole on the 10th of June for not having any valid travel documents under Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and is being held in Kajang prison until the rape case is completed.
The primary suspect has since been detained again and the police are still actively looking for three other suspects involved under investigation of Section 376 of the Penal Code.
Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim also asks for those with information regarding the case to step forward and contact the police hotline at 03-2115 9999, and advises not to spread any baseless information regarding the matter at hand.
If the allegations against the man and the other suspects are true, we genuinely hope that the police will bring them to justice and as unfortunate as it is, if Nicole does not have the proper documents, she will also have to go through the necessary procedures set by the authorities.
We hope justice will take its course.
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comment section.
Also read: Why #BlackLivesMatter Should Be An Important Movement To Malaysians
