JOHOR BARU: Police have arrested a local man for uploading videos of students on a school bus under the TikTok account "Abang Bas".
Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said the 24-year-old suspect was detained by Kluang police in Simpang Renggam at 2.57am on Friday (Sept 6).
“We have seized his mobile phone, believed to have been used to upload the videos, for investigation," he said in a statement.
Comm Kumar said, however, that the videos were still online.
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He added that the arrest was made following a report being lodged.
The case is being investigated under Section 15(a)(iii) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for the sexual intent of following, watching, or contacting a child by any way repeatedly or frequently.
If convicted, the offender may be imprisoned up to 10 years or fined up to RM20,000, or both.
The case is also being investigated under Section 15(2) of the Child Act 2001 for publishing images of children via electronic means.
If found guilty, offenders face up to five years' jail, a RM10,000 fine, or both.
“We would like to call upon parents or guardians of the students featured in the TikTok video to come forward to assist with the investigation," Comm Kumar added.
It was reported earlier that a user on X shared several screenshots of TikTok posts belonging to a young school bus driver who referred to children on the bus as his "crush" and "kesayangan" (beloved).
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said via her X account on Thursday (Sept 5) that she had instructed an officer from the Child Development Department to lodge a police report over the videos.
"This behaviour is not accepted and shouldn’t be normalised. Sharing pictures or videos of a child without the parent’s permission is a violation of the child’s rights and privacy (under the Child Act),” she said.
