Perak exco arrested in sexual assault case

Police have picked up the Perak exco accused of sexually assaulting his domestic helper.

According to Bernama, state police chief Razarudin Husain said the exco was detained yesterday to facilitate investigations.

“To ensure a fair police investigation, we arrested the suspect yesterday to assist our investigation," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Razarudin, however, refused to disclose details of the arrest, only saying that police would release a statement.

Yesterday, the DAP lawmaker's Indonesian domestic worker filed a report on the alleged assault.

Subsequently, police from Bukit Aman's Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division (D11) opened an investigation paper and recorded the victim's statement.

The first-term exco member and second-term state assemblyperson claimed his innocence.

The allegation surfaced two days before the new Perak exco lineup was due to be sworn in. Exco members for the state are appointed on an annual basis.

Following last year's general election, DAP assemblypersons comprise five of the 11 exco members in Perak.

The five are Wong Mei Ing, A Sivanesan, Paul Yong, Howard Lee and Abdul Aziz Bari.

However, the appointment ceremony of the new exco lineup, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow, has been postponed to a later date.