12 Year-Old Cries Rape By Stepfather

The suspect being led to the police lockup yesterday

MIRI: A Primary 6 pupil here shocked her teacher on Wednesday when she revealed that she was raped by her 34-year-old stepfather in their house in Lutong.

Miri police chief ACP Mun Kock Keong, when contacted yesterday, confirmed to have received a report on the matter.

The police report was lodged by the teacher at Lutong Police station at about 8pm on Wednesday. The suspect was arrested at their house in Lutong on Thursday.

The case is being classified as rape, an offence under Section 376 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years’ imprisonment and whipping if convicted.

According to sources, the suspect had started raping the victim since she was nine years old. The victim, the eldest in the family, has three step siblings. Her mother married the suspect in 2008. 

The 12-year-old victim has been sent to Miri Hospital for a medical check-up.

Thai Woman Arrested With 2.1kg Syabu

ALOR SETAR: A Thai woman was detained for smuggling in drugs, believed to be Syabu, worth RM399,000 at the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration Complex Express Bus Station, Tuesday.

Kedah Customs director Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Latif said the woman, 41, was detained at noon after two packages, wrapped in opaque plastic and containing white crystals, was found in her bag.

“We took the woman here (Customs office in Alor Star) and found two packages in her bag weighing 2.1kg and covered in blue carbon with the word ‘pelican’ on them containing drugs, believed to be Syabu,” he told reporters, here,yesterday.

He said the woman, who worked as a masseuse in Kuala Lumpur, was remanded seven days for further investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries the mandatory death sentence if convicted.

Abdul Aziz said, based on her passport, the woman had entered Malaysia four times before but was detained for the first time.

“She used a new modus operandi by boarding a bus at Hatyai to Danok before hiring a car to enter the country in the hope that the Malaysian authorities would not conduct inspections at passenger routes,” he said. - Bernama

I Never Use Drugs, Says Malaysian Student

YOGYAKARTA: The Malaysian student arrested by the Indonesian police for possession of cannabis here last Friday said he was not a smoker and had never used drugs in his life.

Instead, the 22-year-old medical student said he had fallen victim to an offer made through a chat site on the Internet.

On the day of the incident, he said he had just held the package containing the cannabis for a mere five minutes and had yet to open the package when he was arrested by the police.

“I just want to know what cannabis is. I am not a smoker and I have never used drugs in my life,” the student told a media conference at the Sleman district police headquarters here on Wednesday.

Several police officers, who were with the student during the media conference, also believed that the student was a good person and was not involved in any drug problems.

However, the Indonesian police had to continue investigating the case as the student was arrested with 68.93gm of cannabis, which were considered enough to make 50 sticks of cigarettes.

The student said he was curious about the drug and was tempted by the offer to purchase the cannabis through the popular MIRC chat room without thinking of the consequences.

He also said that he did not know the dealer because after making payment through an automated teller machine, he received an SMS telling him to collect the package at a specific location in Jalan Kaliurang.

The student said he rode his motorcycle to the location and found the package, but was arrested almost immediately after he picked it up.

According to the Indonesian law, the student can be detained up to four months pending investigation or prosecution. – Bernama

6.7 Magnitude Quake Strikes Off Indonesia’s Papua

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no immediate tsunami alert issued, Jakarta Globe reported.

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 9:31 am (0131 GMT), was 247 kilometers southwest of Nabire in Papua and 108 kilometers north of Dobo in the Aru Islands, USGS said. It hit at a depth of 24 kilometers.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center website said there was no current warning or advisory in effect.

“There is no tsunami potential. The quake was felt in towns of Nabire, Wamena in Papua and the city of Ambon in Maluku islands,” Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency duty officer, Fauzi, told AFP.

“We haven’t received any reports of damage so far,” he said, adding the agency measured the quake at 7.0 magnitude.

Jealousy Suspected In Murder Of Trader

LAHAD DATU: Police have arrested a 35-year-old Filipino who was allegedly involved in the murder of a Pakistani trader at Kampung Ubi, Jalan Segama here recently.

District police chief Superintendent Shamsudin Mat yesterday said the victim often came to the house of the suspect to sell clothes and collect debts from his family.

“The suspect then became suspicious and suspected that the victim had an affair with his wife.

“As the suspect was too angry, he planned to kill the victim. Anger and jealousy are believed to be the main motive for the murder,” Shamsudin said at a press conference yesterday.

He added on Sept 28, the police received information there was a body of a man in the bush in the yard of an unnumbered house at Batu 4, Kampung Ubi.

Initial investigation revealed that the man was stabbed and hacked to death. Shamsudin said the police also found the victim’s shirt and a machete, believed to be the murder weapon, at the scene.

He said the body was then sent to the district hospital for a post-mortem before being brought to his country of origin.

On Wednesday, a police team from the Crime Investigation Department raided an unnumbered house at Permodalan 2 Plantation, Jalan Jeroco, at 9pm and arrested the Filipino.

The police also detained the suspect’s wife and son to assist in their investigation.

Shamsudin added the suspect was now in the police custody and remanded under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code for further investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

Also present at the press conference was Assistant Superintendent Ang Seow Aun who is the case’s investigation officer.

Morning Accident At Mile 3 Claims Life Of Motorist

Firemen check the identity of the victim near the wrecked vehicle

Houstan Jukat, 25

KUCHING: A man on his way to work died instantly in a road accident about 9am yesterday.Houstan Jukat, 25, from Kampung Git at Jalan Puncak Borneo, was driving a Proton Wira car to his workplace in the city when the accident occurred.

It is said that he was descending the Mile 3 flyover to Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce when a van coming from the roundabout suddenly crossed his path causing him (Houstan) to lose control of the car in a bid to avoid hitting the van.

As a result, the car jumped to the opposite lane and hit a lorry. Houstan leaves behind a wife and a child.

The driver of the lorry and his attendant, the van driver and a motorcyclist who were also involved in the accident received outpatient treatment at Sarawak General Hospital.

The case is being investigated under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.

Hoax Threat Forces China Plane To Land

BEIJING: Chinese police arrested a man in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang for allegedly making a hoax threat that forced a plane into an emergency landing, state media said.

The man, whose name was only given as Wang, confessed to making a “fake terrorist threat” that led to the plane landing on Monday at an airport in Lanzhou, capital of northwest Gansu province, official news agency Xinhua said, citing security officials.

Resource-rich Xinjiang is home to roughly nine million people from the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority who have long been angered by what many see as government oppression.

The China Southern Airlines flight CZ680 had originally taken off from Istanbul in Turkey and landed in Xinjiang’s provincial capital, Urumqi. It was en route for Beijing when the alert happened around 5.30pm (0930 GMT).

A search of the Boeing 757, which was carrying 186 passengers and 10 crew, turned up no explosives or other suspicious items and it took off again at 10.45pm, Xinhua said.

Such incidents on Chinese planes are rare, although a year ago a plane bound for Urumqi was forced into an emergency landing after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on board,

Police detained the 27-year-old woman passenger after she threatened to detonate explosives during the China United Airlines flight from Beijing to Urumqi.

She told police she had a problem with her boyfriend and was flying to Xinjiang to talk to him, state media said.

Two years ago, bloody ethnic riots in Urumqi killed 197 people and injured around 1,700. — AFP

All About Love

You can count the stars...

You can count the sands of the sea...

But you can't count the love that I have for you...

Kate Middleton 'Saddened' By Malaysian Cancer Teen's Death

LONDON (AFP) - Prince William's wife Catherine was saddened by the death of a teenage cancer patient she met during their tour of Malaysia last month, St. James's Palace said on Monday.

Zakwan Anuar, 15, who had leukaemia, postponed a badly-needed blood transfusion for 24 hours and put himself through extra pain so he would not miss the royal visit to the Hospis Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on September 13.

Catherine, known officially as the Duchess of Cambridge, chatted to him for 15 minutes and signed his birthday card. The visit brought a rare smile to the boy's face.

Kate specifically asked to visit the institution during the tour and chose to make her first official speech abroad at the hospice.

Hong Kong Ferry Carrying 120 Passengers Sinks, 36 Dead

HONG KONG (AFP) - A pleasure boat collided with a passenger ferry and sank off Hong Kong, leaving 36 people dead and sparking a frantic overnight search and rescue effort, officials said on Tuesday.

More than 120 passengers and crew were on the Hong Kong Electric company’s vessel to watch a national day fireworks display in Victoria harbour on Monday evening when the collision occurred near Lamma island.

Scores of people were thrown into the choppy water and the company vessel sank within minutes, leaving only its bow protruding from the waves.

“Twenty eight were certified dead at the scene while eight others were certified dead upon arrival (at) hospitals,” the government said in a statement, raising an earlier death toll by 11.

“Over 100 people were sent to five hospitals during the incident, nine of them have sustained serious injuries or are in critical condition.

“Rescue action will continue as Fire Service Department (FSD) cannot rule out that there are still people inside the vessel or missing.”

All of the dead and most of the injured are believed to have been passengers or crew of the Hong Kong Electric vessel.

Rescue teams in boats and helicopters spent the night scouring the sea around the site of the accident for signs of survivors, while dive teams entered the sunken boat.

“The low visibility and many obstacles on board... made it difficult for rescue,” the FSD said.

Survivors were taken by boat to Hong Kong island, some 3km to the east, where a fleet of ambulances whisked them to hospital.

Local television station RTHK reported on its website that children were among the dead.

“After 10 minutes out a boat crashed into ours from the side at very high speed. The rear... started to sink,” a survivor was quoted as telling the South China Morning Post after he was brought to shore.

“I suddenly found myself deep under the sea. I swam hard and tried to grab a life buoy. I don’t know where my two kids are.”

Another survivor, a woman, said: “I swam for a long time to reach the surface and swallowed a lot of water. Then I found a rescue boat.”

Hong Kong chief Leung Chun-ying said the government had mobilised all its resources to respond to the accident.

“All our emergency rescue teams are concentrated there... We can see that bit by bit, the people in the water are being rescued,” he told reporters at a pier as the injured were being put into ambulances.

Later, after visiting a hospital where a number of those hurt had been taken, he said: “Government divers have entered the submerged portion of the boat to rescue survivors, passengers or crew members.

“We will investigate this incident, we must understand the reason for this incident.”

Survivors told how the water level inside the boat being used by HK Electric rose quickly before the vessel sank, RTHK news website reported.

Hong Kong Electric’s Director of Operations S.S. Yuen confirmed the passengers were on their way to the fireworks display.

“This is a very happy holiday and it turned out to be such a tragic incident,” he said.

The FSD said 28 boats, two helicopters and 20 ambulances were involved in the rescue operation.

Lamma island is the third largest island in Hong Kong, with a population of around 5,000 people. It is popular with expats, who enjoy its car-less narrow streets and laid-back lifestyle.

Police said the cause of the accident was not yet known.

Construction Worker Dies In Fall From Level 5

Rahman’s body being transported to SGH for the postmortem

KUCHING: An Indonesian construction worker died at a construction site at Jalan Tabuan after falling down from level 5.

The deceased identified as Rahman Mohd Nurhamat, in his 30s, is believed to have died on-the-spot from head injuries.

The victim was found dead around 5pm by his colleagues who called the ambulance from a nearby specialist hospital.

The body was later brought to Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) around 7pm for a postmortem.