Taiwanese tourist in KL claims M'sia police sexually harassed & tried to extort money from her

A Taiwanese woman, who visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, accused the police there of sexually harassing and her attempting to extort money from her.

The woman, Cai, took to Instagram on Jul. 15 and shared that she was with her family in a hailed ride on the way to a night market in KL for dinner when a group of uniformed police officers stopped their vehicle at a roadblock.

Cai explained that her family cooperated with the police and showed them their passports.

While searching for her passport in her bag, Cai accidentally started recording a video on her phone, capturing a 10-second clip of her searching for her belongings.

However, one of the police officers saw that she had recorded a video and accused her of secretly filming him.

He demanded that she exited the car and confiscated her phone.

"I panicked and tried to explain that it was a mistake, even demonstrating how I had accidentally pressed the [record] button. But they wouldn't listen. They wouldn't let me use a translation app or make a call," she wrote.

Instead, Cai said they allegedly threatened to fine her RM10,000 or she would be arrested and taken to the police station.

Try to extort money

When Cai told the officers that she did not have that much cash on her, they told her they would take her to an ATM to withdraw the money.

However, Cai told them she did not have her bank card with her.

They then reportedly forced Cai to change her phone's language setting from Chinese to English before going through her phone.

She said the officers went through her phone and deleted the video she had accidentally taken, and scrolled through the photos she had taken on the trip.

They also allegedly demanded that Cai unlock her banking app using facial recognition and asked about the amount of money she had in her account:

"I was completely terrified and didn't dare resist. The only thing on my mind was how can I get out of this safely?"

Cai tried to ask her driver for help, but the driver apparently asked if he could leave as he had another passenger waiting.

He then drove off with her family to the night market and left her behind.

She added that she begged the police not to separate her from her family, stating that her family was unable to speak English and without her, they would not be able to return to their hotel.

However, they apparently ignored her.

Cai then sought the help of her friend, who pretended to be her lawyer and spoke to one of the police officers.

However, they ended up arguing, leading the police officer to block and delete her friend's contact from her phone.

The officer allegedly came up with another proposal, reportedly asking her for RM1,000 and to go to a bar with him after his shift.

Cai reiterated that she did not have that much cash on him, and the officer told her to call her family to ask how much money they had on them.

Allegedly started flirting

While all this was happening, Cai said she noticed other people getting stopped at the roadblock and a few locals helping out their friends.

She saw some of the others speak Mandarin and tried to ask for help, but the officers shut down her attempt and forced her into a corner.

That was when a few officers allegedly "hit on" Cai, asking her if she was single and where she was from.

"I felt deeply humiliated and scared. I had no idea how to respond," she said.

One of the officers apparently told her that if she went for drinks with him, he would let her go.

He then reportedly asked her to give him her phone number so he could contact her at her hotel after his shift.

He also warned her not to tell anyone about it.

Cai said she feared for his life and pretended to agree so that they finally drove her to a 7-Eleven store near the night market, where her family was able to put together RM300 to give to the officers.

It was nearly midnight then, and the officers finally let her go.

Didn't return to the original hotel

However, the ordeal did not end for Cai as she did not dare to return to her hotel, as the officer knew where she was staying and said he would look for her after "taking a shower".

She booked a new hotel and took another ride to the new hotel, while her family went back to the other hotel to pack up and check out.

Throughout this time, the officer apparently continued to text her on WhatsApp, but she stalled him until she was able to get her family safely to her new hotel.

When Cai finally told the officer she was unable to meet him, he tried to persuade her to meet him, saying that he would return her money and that he had "saved" her.

He then apparently went to the previous hotel and allegedly waited downstairs for her, continuously calling and messaging her.

Cai shared that she was "so terrified" that she blocked all his contacts, took screenshots and turned off her phone.

"I never imagined I’d go through something like this while traveling. Before leaving, I only heard friends say Malaysia’s safety isn’t great, be careful! But I never thought that “being careful” also meant being careful of the police."

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On Jul. 17, she shared screenshots of the conversation with the police officer in another Instagram post.

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According to New Straits Times, the Petaling Jaya police have launched an investigation into Cai's case.

The police chief stated that the case is being taken seriously and that there will be no compromise with any officer found to be abusing their position.

Top photos via yaner.f/Instagram