PETALING JAYA: A 35-year-old woman has been arrested in Rawang to assist in the investigation into the death of social media influencer and activist Rajeswary Appahu last Friday.
Sentul OCPD Asst Comm Ahmad Sukarno Mohd Zahari said the woman was arrested at 1.45am at the Bukit Beruntung Golf Resort yesterday and remanded for two days to assist investigations.
He said the arrest was made following a police report lodged on Saturday by a 39-year-old man who had come across two TikTok videos allegedly containing profanities, threats and defamation against Rajeswary.
ACP Ahmad Sukarno said checks by police showed that the videos which were spotted by the complainant on June 30 and the following day had since been removed.
However, he said the complainant, who works as a caretaker of a retirement home, had provided investigators with screenshots of the videos.
He added that police were also looking for other people who could assist in the probe.
He said the case was being investigated for criminal intimidation under Section 506 of the Penal Code, misuse of network facilities under Section 233 of the Communi-cations and Multimedia Act, and provocation with indecent words or gestures under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act.
ACP Ahmad Sukarno urged those with information that could help with the probe to contact Insp Kumaran Krishnan at 010-909 3726 or the Sentul police headquarters at 03-4048 2222.
Rajeswary was found dead at her apartment a day after she lodged a police report on Thursday of death and sexual assault threats made by cyberbullies.
She claimed she was trolled and harassed in a live session with threats and vulgarity by an individual on TikTok who also used her photo and made serious threats against her.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, who attended Rajeswary’s funeral on Sunday, said that cyberbullies who harass and humiliate social media users should be dragged to court to face the full brunt of the law.
He also said that the matter had been brought to the attention of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet will on Friday discuss stricter enforcement and consider making amendments to existing laws to ensure cyberbullies pay dearly for their actions.
Rajeswary’s elder sister Susila called for sterner action on cyberbullying on social media platforms, adding that her late sister, who was known as Esha in social media circles, was harassed horrifically on the TikTok platform until she emotionally broke down and could no longer bear the mental stress.
