Local social media has been left in an uproar after it was recently alleged that officers from the Petaling Jaya City Council had assaulted an elderly man who was trying to protect his dogs from being captured. The matter was raised by local netizen Rekha Morgan, who claims that she had been on her way home when she stumbled upon the incident along Jalan 18/17 in Taman Kanagapuram at around 8.55pm.
Elderly man allegedly assaulted by MBPJ officers
According to Rekha’s post, she had stopped her car when she noticed a scuffle taking place between an elderly man and six to seven enforcement officers. It was said that upon threatening him, the enforcement officers then struck the senior citizen using an iron rod when he tried to stand between them and his dogs, in hopes of protecting them from being injured or captured.
Upon confronting the men for resorting to undue violence to seize the man’s dogs, Rekha claims that they were unapologetic.
“I stepped out of my car to stop them from harassing him further and told them this is not the right way to carry out their duty the and the officers responded ‘Kita government, memang begini kita buat kerja‘. [We are the government, this is how we work.] ‘Report polis la‘ [Go lodge a police report then.].”
Upon explaining the situation to the hapless old man, he then agreed to hand over three of his dogs to the enforcement officers, one of them being a puppy. Furthermore, it was said that the enforcement officers did not show any proof of identification, nor copies of any reports that were lodged against the elderly man over his dogs, before they began assaulting him.
Resorted to undue violence to catch his dogs
CCTV footage that was obtained from the scene appears to corroborate Rekha’s claims, showing how some of the enforcement officers had chased after the dogs before trying to catch them using dog catching pole. In the heat of the moment while trying to protect his dogs, the elderly man appears to have been struck by one of the poles.
Another video showed how the elderly man had tried to then close the door leading into his property, but was forcibly stopped by one of the officers who held against the side of the door, forcing him to keep it open.
Due to the assault, Rekha claims the elderly man sustained a swollen jaw and cheek, as well as a cut on his wrist. Apparently, she has seen him in the area before and notes that he takes good care of his dogs, all of whom never caused any trouble to local residents.
According to local news outlet The Vibes, the 69-year-old victim has since lodged a police report over the incident and submitted the CCTV footage as evidence. On the other hand, Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung has urged for MBPJ to launch a transparent investigation into the incident for any breach of code of conduct.
While he confirms that PJ residents are required to obtain a dog permit that is to be renewed annually, any possibility of wrongdoing on the elderly man’s part should not warrant violence.
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