Detained teenager claims he shot monkey for fun, say Perak police

LUMUT (Bernama): "Just for fun" - That was what a teenager said about shooting dead a caged monkey in Sitiawan near here a few days ago.

He even recorded a video of the act, which has gone viral on social media.

Perak police chief Comm Datuk Razarudin Husain said the 18-year-old also admitted that he had trapped the monkey in a banana orchard for damaging crops.
 
“The teenager admitted that he took his father's gun while he was sleeping in the banana orchard's shed on the day of the incident,” Comm Razarudin told a press conference at the Manjung district police headquarters here on Thursday (May 23).

He said the teenager was arrested together with his father, an entrepreneur, who is also the owner of the gun, at their residence in Taman Kenangan, Sitiawan at 9.20pm Wednesday (May 22).
 
Both have been remanded from Thursday until May 26 for further investigations under Section 39 of the Firearms Act 1960 and Section 428 of the Penal Code.
 
Comm Razarudin said police also seized a black Glock .42 automatic pistol, a gun holster, 12 bullets and the father's firearm permit.

In the incident between 10am and 11am on May 18, the teenager allegedly fired one shot at the caged monkey, before tossing the cage and the carcass into a river in Bota.

Comm Razarudin said the suspect's father admitted that the person in the video looked a lot like his son.

“Initial investigations found that this is the suspect's first case, and we have not been able to ascertain if the teenager has mental problems, but further investigations will be carried out.

“We advise licensed firearm owners to be more careful with their weapon and to keep it in a safe place, not accessible to their children.

"In this case, the suspect's father said he did not know the firearm was taken by his son,” Comm Razarudin added.

He said this incident should not have happened; it was not only a case of misuse of firearm but also animal abuse.

The 19-second video shows the teenager shooting the monkey after asking the animal to call him "baby sayang", an act which received widespread condemnation from social media users. - Bernama