Rape: Religious speaker remanded for five days

IPOH: A freelance religious speaker is being remanded for five days from today to assist in the investigation into the alleged raping of a 14-year-old girl that occurred here.

The handcuffed man, in this 30's and clad in a T-shirt, was brought to the Magistrate's Court, here, about 1 pm.

The remand order was issued by magistrate, Noor Azreen Liana Mohd Darus for police to further investigate the case.

Perak police had earlier confirmed having received a report on the alleged rape case, with the popular religious speaker reportedly detained in Kuala Selangor on July 18 at 4.50 pm.

The case was being investigated under Section 376 of the Penal Code for rape and under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

Last Saturday, the suspect was handed over to Kuala Lumpur police for further investigation after the five-day remand order in Selangor ended, with the rape incidents also believed to have occurred in these two places.

It is learnt that Perak police detained the suspect in Kuala Lumpur to facilitate the investigation into the rape of the same girl, in Ipoh last January.

Based on the initial investigation, the suspect and the underaged girl got to know each other after the girl contacted him on social media on religious matters before getting into a relationship since May last year.

-- BERNAMA