Indecent dress run: Three men were arrested to help with the investigation
Screen capture of participants dressed indecently in the 2024 Pan Asian International Run at a hotel in Bandar Penawar, Desaru, Kota Tinggi
Screen capture of participants dressed indecently in the 2024 Pan Asian International Run at a hotel in Bandar Penawar, Desaru, Kota Tinggi.
JOHOR BAHRU: Three men have been arrested by the police to help investigate incidents of indecent and obscene behavior during the Pan Asia 2024 international running program in Kota Tinggi.
Johor Police Chief, Datuk M Kumar said, two foreign men and a local man aged between 39 and 70 were arrested at a hotel in Kota Tinggi at 10pm, Saturday.
According to him, clothes and accessories believed to be worn during the run including a red sari, a red skirt, three pieces of silver cardboard and a silver imitation spear shaft were also seized.
"The results of the urine test also found that all the suspects were negative for any kind of drugs and that all the suspects had no previous criminal records.
"Preliminary investigations found that the actions taken by the three suspects were in their individual capacity and not representing the organizers or the organized running program.
"The case is classified under Section 14 of the Minor Offenses Act 1955 for insulting behavior and Section 294 of the Penal Code for performing obscene acts in a public place," he said in a statement on Sunday.
He said the investigation is still ongoing and the public is advised not to make any speculations that could interfere with the police investigation and threaten public order.
"The public is also welcome to channel information about crime incidents to the hotline of the city police headquarters at 07-8831222 or the operation room at 07-8831221," he said.
Before that, spread the information on the special page of Kota Tinggi residents on Facebook with the caption 'what is going to happen with this Bandar Penawar'.
"It was shared by the owner or operator of the fb account Mohd Latif bin Talib showing several pictures and a video clip of a group of individuals dressed in red and behaving indecently and obscenely in public.
"Among the statements that were uploaded together with the message was what is going to happen to this Bandar Penawar, worrying about reinforcements coming later. The area is predominantly Malay Muslim but there is such an event. Who gave the approval for this 2024 Pan Asian event?.
On Saturday, the media reported that the state government has never given permission or relaxation to any party for organizing events that do not protect the sensitivity of Islam in Johor.
Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said, the state government takes it seriously and will not compromise on the viral issue of tourists dressed in reverse and indecent in a running program in Kota Tinggi.
