A Malaysian diving instructor was arrested after a 24-year-old Chinese tourist accused him of molesting her while underwater. According to Assistant Superintendent Arif Abdul Razak, the acting officer in charge said that the woman was molested by a 27-year-old man, who was working freelance while diving in waters off Semporna in Sabah state at about 1 pm on Friday, reported South China Morning Post.
The incident soon went viral on social media. The pictures feature screenshots of the alleged conversations between the diving instructor and the victim. One of the pictures shows the woman being kissed.
Mr Razak in a statement said, "The victim had lodged a complaint with Semporna police before flying back to her hometown in China."
The police informed that the accused was arrested at 12.50 am on Sunday at a house in a water village in the district. He has been charged under section 354 of the Penal Code for using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a woman. The accused has been remanded until Thursday to facilitate investigations.
Tourism, culture and Environment minister of Sabah- Christina Liew said on Monday that the incident had dented the image of the state's tourism industry just as it was beginning to recover from the pandemic. "Incidents like this greatly affect the image of tourism in the Semporna district in particular, and Sabah in general, even more so as the tourism industry is recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic."
“I call on all travel agents in this state to play a role in providing quality service,” she said. “They must be responsible to ensure incidents like this will not happen again.”
Sharing details about the incident, the minister revealed that the incident had occurred outside the area of Sipadan Island Park and Tun Sakaran Marine Park which was under the management of Sabah Parks.
