Probe Completed On Cop Accused Of Victim Blaming Harassed Cosplayer

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Police say they have completed an internal investigation against an officer accused of victim-blaming a cosplayer when she tried to file a report over harassment and stalking.
Petaling Jaya district police chief Mohamad Fakhruddin Abdul Hamid said they are now awaiting further instructions from the Selangor police headquarters on the matter.
He told Malaysiakini that among the possible options for disciplinary action against the officer if found in the wrong, include a demotion or a salary cut.
On Monday, the female cosplayer who ran a booth at the Anime Fest at Paradigm Mall in Petaling Jaya over the weekend to interact with fans lodged a police report at the Kelana Jaya police station against a stalker.
According to her police report sighted by Malaysiakini, the social media content creator said she was harassed at her booth by someone who attended the event.
Upon lodging the report, the complainant alleged in a tweet that the male police personnel remarked: “You dress like this to sell photographs. This is the consequence. You are in the wrong too.”
Cosplaying - a portmanteau of “costumes” and “play” - involves people dressing up in costumes resembling characters from cartoons or video games.
The 21-year-old claimed she was wearing a jacket to hide her costume when she lodged the report.
Following this, an internal probe against the officer was launched.
The investigation was completed after police took the cosplayer's statement at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters today.
The cosplayer tweeted that she was at the district police headquarters for four hours.
Meanwhile, in a brief statement to Malaysiakini yesterday, Anime Fest said it takes harassment cases seriously and attends to them promptly.
"We do our best to keep our events safe for everyone," they said.
However, they declined to comment on this case specifically as the investigations were ongoing. - Mkini

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