Video of women’s heads being shaved — it didn’t happen here
A screengrab from the viral video.
PETALING JAYA: Bukit Aman has dismissed reports of a video in which a group of men are seen shaving the heads of two women, explaining that the clip was of an incident in Venezuela.
The video was widely shared on social media with a false message designed to inflame racial tension.
The two-minute clip shows a woman sitting on a plastic stool with another woman standing behind her, and several men surrounding them in a shop that appears to be selling clothing.
One of the men is seen holding the hair of the woman who is seated on the stool before another man starts shaving her head with an electric razor.
The other woman, who was standing, is seen talking to one of the men before she is asked to sit on the stool and has her head shaved as well.
Inspector-General of Police secretariat corporate communications chief Senior Asst Comm Datin Asmawati Ahmad said that police had detected the spread of the video, attached with a message claiming that the women had been caught stealing at a shop belonging to a man of a different race and as a punishment, their heads were shaved.
SAC Asmawati said that following the distribution of the video, there were reactions with racial sentiments, which were shared widely on social media.
She added that checks by police revealed that the incident actually occurred in Maracaibo, Venezuela in 2016.
“It did not happen in Malaysia as claimed by those who spread the video and message,” she said in a statement on Monday.
SAC Asmawati advised the public to be wise in judging news shared on social media or other communications networks, and not to fall victim to the bad intentions of certain parties.
She added that the public should not play up issues that can touch on racial and religious sensitivities which could threaten the harmony of the country.
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/05/08/viral-video-head-shaved-false/#O6QICVogbzMjUsEM.99
