JOHOR BARU: Johor police have rescued a Chinese national teenage girl who had been abducted from Singapore, some 326km away in Kuantan within 24 hours after being reported missing.
State police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar said that a 48-year-old Chinese national man had lodged a report with the police here on Tuesday (Nov 26) stating that his 15-year-old daughter did not attend school and was believed to be abducted by an unknown individual.
“The teenager did not show up at her school in Singapore on Monday (Nov 25) before being reported missing. Checks found that the victim was brought into Malaysia through the Woodlands checkpoint on Sunday (Nov 24).
“Through intelligence gathering, police carried out a raid and successfully rescued the victim at an area in Kuantan, Pahang on Tuesday (Nov 26). We also arrested a 22-year-old Chinese national man at the same location,” he said in a statement here on Wednesday (Nov 27).
Comm Kumar added that police also seized several items including mobile phones, clothes and other equipment used in the case to help with its investigation.
He said that the victim would be brought to a hospital for a medical checkup while the suspect was under remand for seven days until Dec 2.
Comm Kumar also said that the case was being investigated under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017 (Act 792), Section 48(2) of the Child Act 2001 (Act 611) and Section 361 of the Penal Code (Act 574).
“We are still investigating the motive behind this case. The success of this operation comes from intelligence gathering and public information,” he added.
Comm Kumar urged the public not to speculate or make any comments on the matter that could interfere with the police investigation process.
He said that the police welcomed consistent cooperation from the public to channel any crime information by contacting the Johor police hotline number at 07-2212999.
