Portal publishes photo of victim of alleged rape by 'senior minister'

An online news portal focussing on East Malaysian politics has published a photo it claimed was Robengah, an Indonesian women said to be a victim of rape by a 'senior minister', as revealed by WikiLeaks and several blogs recently.

Sabahkini.net also named the minister, a staunch critic of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who made a cabinet comeback during the premiership of Abdullah Badawi, and who is still serving in the current cabinet.

Accompanied with a statement by non-governmental organisation Migrant Care, which had earlier claimed that a cabinet minister was let off despite allegation of rape by his maid, the website quoted a Sabah PKR leader urging the minister’s resignation.

Since the news about the hitherto unnamed cabinet minister's rape case was first exposed through WikiLeaks, it has been making waves on the internet, with users posting comments on blogs and microblogging site Twitter

UMNO leader wants action

When queried by one Twitter user, UMNO Youth's new media chief Tun Faisal urged action to be taken against the minister.

Meanwhile, a prominent blogger Ahirudin Attan or 'Rocky Bru', who is also editor-in-chief of free daily paper The Malay Mail, made a sarcastic comparison by highlighting the news report about an Israelil minister found guilty for raping his assistant.

“We cannot let the people accuse our leaders of committing crime without investigation. But because we did not investigate and the case was closed, now it looks as if we are trying to blind the people,” he wrote.

The scandal immediately shot to become one of the most read stories in Harakahdaily. The incident allegedly took place in 2007, when Abdullah Badawi was the prime minister.

Meanwhile, Alex Ong, Migrant Care's coordinator, told Harakahdaily that his group had done a thorough investigation into the complaints in July 2008.

On August 1, 2007, Alex together with two leaders from Migrant Care issued a press statement calling for action. On December 27, local rights group Tenaganita republished the statement in the hope that the authorities will re-open the case following the WikiLeaks expose - Harakahdaily.