PADAWAN: Police have arrested eight Vietnamese men for allegedly molesting a four-year-old girl at a house along Jalan Matang here.
The incident that happened yesterday came to light when the girl, who was having difficulties in sleeping, complained of pain to her 33-year-old Vietnamese mother past midnight.
The girl then told her mother that the men had “discarded rubbish” into her private parts. Shock over her daughter’s disclosure, the concerned mother examined the victim and discovered signs that she have been molested.
Following the discovery, the mother lodged a report at the Batu Kawa police station, around 3am earlier today, suspecting that her daughter was sexually abused by the men who were also her husband’s employees.
District police chief Supt Aidil Bolhassan, said acting on the report, police have arrested eight men aged between 19 to 47 years old, all Vietnamese nationals, at 5am today to facilitate the investigation.
“All suspects will be brought to the Kuching Court tomorrow morning for the remand application process.
“The victim was referred to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) for an initial check,” he said in a statement.
Aidil said that the suspects were brought into the state in the past three weeks and employed as fishermen by the victim’s father.
They were staying at the victim’s grandparents’ house while waiting for the boat to be completed.
Initial investigation revealed that the victim was places at her grandparents’ house from 3pm to 5pm yesterday, while the couple went to renew their visas at the Immigration Department office.
It is said that the victim’s father had just established a deep-sea fishing business after he came back from his three- month travel in Vietnam.