New York Times Rape Story Ghosts do not die Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik raped a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Ghani Patail's Colossal Waste of Promises, or the Exorcist Cannot Rid Malaysia the ghost

Ghosts do not die. That is the power of a phantom. You can bury of the cases to the chanting of the prosecutor's fraudulent funeral rites, but its restless spirit keeps rattling through the haunted house of the UMNO Party's premier family. The latest rattle, in which the shocking revelations that Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wifeRosmah Mansor were involved in hatching sodomy accusations against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim  Ghani Patail has the chance to go down in his nation's history as either a colossal waste of a promise, or as the exorcist who rid Malaysia of the ghost of all  the ghost ., the then chief minister of Malacca, Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, was reported to have raped a 15-year-old schoolgirl (under Malaysian law, sex with a minor constitutes statutory rape). Lim Guan Eng, currently the chief minister of Penang and the then MP for Kota Melaka, spoke out against the rape of a minor after the girl’s  .grandmother-cum-guardian, who was also Lim’s constituent, turned to him for help.

However, far from deserving justice, both Lim and the schoolgirl received their “dues”. Lim was jailed for three years for speaking up against the rape while the girl was given three years “protective custody”. As for Rahim, because of the rape and pending corruption charges, he was forced to resign, after a 12-year stint as Malacca’s chief minister.

But the judiciary saw Rahim escape punishment for a crime committed; this came about after the public prosecutor withdrew the charge citing lack of evidence. The corruption charges against Rahim were also dropped.

The travesty of justice is such that on Feb 28, 1995, Lim was thrown into jail after he was charged under the Sedition Act for prompting “disaffection with the administration of Malaysia”.

On March 17 the same year, he was slapped with another charge under the Printing Presses and Publications Act for “maliciously printing” a pamphlet containing “false information”, specifically that Lim had used the term “imprisoned victim” to describe the schoolgirl who was raped.

As a result of his trying to seek justice for the rape survivor, Lim was barred from holding public office for five years, making him ineligible to contest in the 2004 general election.

As for the underage rape survivor, she was initially detained for 10 years without parental consent. She was subsequently sentenced to three years “protective custody” in a house for “wayward girls”. During Lim’s trial, the girl gave evidence that she had sex with a minister.

With such lecherous politicians in our midst, the safety of girls and women – be they our sisters, daughters, mothers and foreign female workers – is at risk. There is no telling which politician is waiting to sexually assault the girls and women in this country. What is annoying is the fact that the crime is easily dismissed by threatening and buying the silence of the victim.

In Rais’ case, if the rape had never taken place as he claimed, then what made his domestic helper of eight years to suddenly pack her bags and leave for home in Indonesia? If he has been such a kind and generous man as his former domestic helper claimed when retracting her allegation of rape, the question of her quitting her job would not arise. There is no doubt something is amiss here, no matter how much Rais denies it.

In the case of Rahim, he was never convicted and continues to enjoy life while Lim spent three years in jail and the the rape survivor was sentenced to three years in a house for “wayward girls”. What wrong did the girl do to end up in a house for wayward girls while the perpetrator, Rahim, walked a free man? Where was justice when it was desperately needed?

The public editor of the New York Times, Arthur Brisbane, sided with readers whoexpressed outrage over a story in the paper about a brutal gang rape in Texas.

The story, which was published last Tuesday, focused on the rape of an 11-year-old girl by 18 boys and men in Cleveland, Texas. But critics excoriated the Times for, in their view, blaming the girl for the attack.

In a blog post on Friday, Brisbane said he agreed.

"My assessment is that the outrage is understandable," he wrote. "The story dealt with a hideous crime but addressed concerns about the ruined lives of the perpetrators without acknowledging the obvious: concern for the victim."

Brisbane pointed to the sections that drew the most ire, where residents were quoted expressing worry about the burden the men will have to carry because of their crimes, and where the girl was described as often "dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s."

"If indeed that is the only sentiment to be found in this community - and I find that very hard to believe - it becomes important to report on that as well by seeking out voices of professional authorities or dissenting community members who will at least address, and not ignore, the plight of the young girl involved," Brisbane wrote.

The Times initially defended the story in a statement, saying the writer of the article, James C. McKinley, was merely reporting what he had been told. But the paper's standards editor, Phillip Corbett, seemed to walk back that defense in an interview with Brisbane, saying that the Times "could have done more to provide more context" to stress the fact that the victim was not being blamed.

* Unwelcome sexual behaviour like physical contact

INVESTIGATION PAPERS ON SOI LEK’S SEX VIDEO TO BE SENT TO AG

KUALA LUMPUR – The investigation papers on the distribution of the sex video involving MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek will be submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers soon.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Dr Chua lodged a police report after being informed by a colleague on the distribution of envelopes containing two DVDs in several areas in Batu Pahat, Johor, which was intended to smear his image.

Following the report, police conducted an investigation and the investigation papers submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, before the Attorney-General ordered for further investigation, he said in a written reply to a question by Hee Loy Sian (PKR-Petaling Jaya Selatan) in Parliament Tuesday.

Hee wanted to know the rationale Dr Chua was not charged in court.

Hishammuddin said the case was investigated under Section 292/509 of the Penal Code.

In January 2008, Dr Chua resigned from his cabinet post and as MCA vice-president after admitting that the man in the sex video was him.read more  New York Times Rape Story Ghosts do not die Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik raped a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Ghani Patail's Colossal Waste of Promises, or the Exorcist Cannot Rid Malaysia the ghost