Thousands sign petition for autistic man - accused molesting

Post Reply New Topic

ETALING JAYA: Ahmad Ziqri Morshidi, who was arrested for allegedly molesting a woman, is a victim of ignorance, says signatories of a petition urging justice for the 22-year-old autistic man.

The petition, which was launched by Persatuan Child Sabah on Monday (Sept 17) and uploaded on change.org, received over 11,300 signatures within 17 hours.

The petition called not only for Ahmad Ziqri to be treated fairly, but for the authorities to review its standard operating procedures when dealing with persons with disabilities.

"Ahmad Ziqri has the mental age of a much younger person and was unable to process much of what happened," said the petition which was addressed to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the Inspector-General of Police.

image: https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/sett ... tame/tags=


The petition asked that authorities work with psychiatrists, psychologists, and parents with children of disabilities to implement protocols.

It also implored "that members of the family or designated people be permitted to accompany persons with disabilities to enable them to navigate the system and support the individual".

The petition suggested that restraints such as handcuffs be used only as a last resort when dealing with people with disabilities, as stress and anxiety could manifest in the form of self-injury, seizures and extreme behaviour issues.

On Sept 11, Ahmad Ziqri was arrested for allegedly touching a 24-year-old woman's chest after a birthday celebration at a restaurant.

He was then taken to court to be remanded the next day, which meant that he had to spend the night in police lock-up.

His mother Hasnah told The Star that her son – who is of diminished mental capacity – did not understand the consequences of his actions or why he was being arrested.

The 22-year-old man with autism, who was arrested for allegedly molesting a woman, is oblivious that he is the subject of discussions about dealing with persons with disabilities, his mother said.

While touched by the overwhelming support from the public, Hasnah Abdul Rahman said her son was not aware that he had sparked a debate about whether the authorities were adequately trained to handle cases involving people like him.

On Sept 11, Ahmad Ziqri Morshidi was arrested for allegedly touching a woman’s chest.

He was then taken to the court to be remanded the next day, but the application was rejected.

He was then freed on police bail.

The incident inspired a petition, calling for the authorities to review its standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Launched by Persatuan Child Sabah, the Change.org petition that was launched on Monday had received over 17,000 signatures as of press time.

The petition called not only for Ahmad Ziqri to be treated fairly, but for the authorities to review its SOPs when dealing with persons with disabilities.

“Ahmad Ziqri has the mental age of a much younger person and was unable to process much of what happened,” said the petition, which was addressed to the Women, Family and Community Develop­ment Ministry and the Inspector-General of Police.

It added that while public awareness of autism had risen, very little was seen in terms of action in the community, leading to misunderstanding of such behaviour.

It urged the authorities to work with psychiatrists, psychologists and parents of children with disabilities to implement protocols.

It also implored that members of the family or designated people be permitted to accompany persons with disabilities to enable them to navigate the system and support the individual.

It suggested that restraints such as handcuffs be used only as a last resort when dealing with people with disabilities, as stress and anxiety could manifest in the form of self-injury, seizures and extreme behavioural issues.

Hasnah said she had met with officials from the Welfare Depart­ment, who informed her that the present SOPs did not require them to be present at the police station for adults with disabilities.

“The police treat them as adults, but it’s not the same,” she said, describing her son as a “child in a man’s” body.

Hasnah also urged the public not to judge the parties involved.

“Some people made comments about bad parenting. It’s easy to say that when you’re not living with it 24/7,” she said.

“I hope that a solution is in sight to help children and young adults who are autistic or have special needs,” she added.

Members of the public need to stop “nasty comments” on the 23-year-old victim in the molest case involving a 22-year-old autistic man, said Hannah Yeoh.

The Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister said she met with the victim, whom she said was “very traumatised” by the incident.

“I urge the public to stop condemning the victim.

“This young woman who is the victim in this case was very traumatised by the incident. I have seen the police report and she was actually touched in the private parts.

“I have seen online comments. The victim shaming and victim blaming has to stop.

"Many do not know the true facts of the case. Some even questioned the victim’s dressing. This is irrelevant to what happened,” said Yeoh to reporters after attending the 2018 National Women’s Day celebrations here.

On Sept 11, Ahmad Ziqri Morshidi was arrested for allegedly molesting the 23-year-old woman.

He was taken to court to be remanded the next day, but the application was rejected. He was then released on police bail.

According to his family members, Ahmad Ziqri has the mental capacity of a 13-year-old.

His mother said her son did not understand the consequences of his actions or why he was being arrested.

“In this case, we could say that there are two victims. One is the woman victim who was molested, and the other is the autistic man who is accused of it," said Yeoh.

“I ask that the public give both families space. What we as Malaysians need to do is to raise awareness about autism and other disabilities so we know how to handle these sort of cases in the future,” said Yeoh.

Yeoh said the ministry is looking into the case thoroughly and will discuss with authorities to come up with a standard operating procedure on how to manage such cases.

“I ask that the public give both families space. What we as Malaysians need to do is to raise awareness about autism and other disabilities so we know how to handle these sort of cases in the future,” said Yeoh.

I knew since I was 9 that touching breasts is wrong. Mom told me they were my privates and no one can touch them but me when I started to bud. Sorry, buy being younger on the inside is no excuse. If a 9 year old can know this, so should he.

Oh mental compacity of a 13 year old, oh please even 13 year olds know molesting is wrong. What if it was a non autistic 22 year old man with the same compacity, would they play the low IQ card on him and ask for better understanding?


Don't forget to include people with borderline intellectual functioning.