Police confirm a report by a 13-year-old student assaulted by five teenage girls in Kota Kinabalu, with a viral video and ongoing investigations.
PETALING JAYA: Police are investigating a group assault of a 13-year-old schoolgirl that allegedly took place in Kota Kinabalu after a video showing a female student being attacked by several girls began circulating widely on social media.
Kota Kinabalu acting police chief Supt Syed Lot Syed Abdul Rahman said the victim lodged a police report herself at 7.51am on May 23.
He said preliminary investigations found that the incident took place at about 8am on May 22 in the Kota Kinabalu area.
“The victim is believed to have been assaulted by five female students.
“As a result of the incident, the victim suffered bruising on both shoulders and legs, bruising to her left ear and a minor wound on her left knee,” he said in a statement today.
Syed Lot said the victim and the suspects were students from several schools around Kota Kinabalu.
He said they were believed to have known one another through a WhatsApp group called “Angel”.
Police also found that two suspects had allegedly taken the girl to the location before the assault occurred.
“Investigations found that the victim was brought to the location by two suspects before all the suspects surrounded and assaulted her, believed to be due to a misunderstanding and dissatisfaction towards the victim,” he said.
Syed Lot said the girl also claimed she had been threatened not to inform her family or the police about the incident.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 147 of the Penal Code for rioting and Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation.
The one-minute video, which began circulating widely on Wednesday, triggered public outrage after it showed a female student being attacked by a group of girls while several other youths were seen nearby.
Police said the incident was witnessed by several students and members of the public before it was recorded and uploaded online.
Investigations are ongoing.
