A 24-year-old Chinese tourist accused a Malaysian diving instructor of molesting her while she was under the water, leading to his arrest. The woman was molested by a 27-year-old man who was working as a freelance diver in the waters off Semporna in Sabah state at around 1 pm on Friday, according to Assistant Superintendent Arif Abdul Razak, the acting officer in charge, according to South China Morning Post.
The incident quickly gained popularity on social media. Screenshots of the alleged conversations between the Chinese tourist and the diving instructor are shown in the images. The woman is kissed in one of the images.
Mr Razak in a statement said, “The victim had lodged a complaint with Semporna police before flying back to her hometown in China.”
According to the police, the suspect was taken into custody on Sunday at 12.50 am at a residence in a nearby water village. He has been charged with violating a woman’s modesty by using criminal force under section 354 of the Penal Code. For the benefit of the investigation, the suspect has been detained until Thursday.
Tourism, culture and Environment minister of Sabah- Christina Liew said on Monday that the incident had dented the image of the state’s tourism industry just as it was beginning to recover from the pandemic. “Incidents like this greatly affect the image of tourism in the Semporna district in particular, and Sabah in general, even more so as the tourism industry is recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“I call on all travel agents in this state to play a role in providing quality service,” she said. “They must be responsible to ensure incidents like this will not happen again.”
The minister shared information about the incident and revealed that it took place outside the boundaries of Tun Sakaran Marine Park and Sipadan Island Park, which are both managed by Sabah Parks.
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