THE lawmaker who allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl claimed the incident was all just a misunderstanding, Harian Metro reports.

He said he had not meant to touch the minor to the point her family was compelled to make a police report, and denied that the incident took place in a secluded spot.

He said he had known the girl and her family for years.

“I’ve known them (the girl and her family) for a while – almost two years – and the alleged ‘harassment’ did not happen in a secluded area but in a public place,” the MP said.

“I do not want to prolong this matter as I pity the student, who has a bright future.

“They are even saying I paid a bribe, but I did not know anything about the report being retracted until the family members themselves told me,” the report quoted him as saying.

The MP was not identified in the report.

A report was filed against a Perlis lawmaker for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl by the family of the girl, which subsequently retracted the report.

Lawyers called the retraction “suspicious” and expressed fears the girl could have been intimidated by the assailant and made to withdraw the report. 

According to her report, the girl entered the suspect’s car after she was informed by a man believed to be her teacher that the suspect wanted to see her.

The victim from Arau had been performing with a group called Kumpulan Aukustika on 7@DSSK Busker at Stadium Tuanku Syed Putra.

“She was performing with the group before a man who she referred to as ‘Cikgu Azhar Hassan’ told her that the suspect wanted to see her in his car.

“The girl agreed. Both the suspect and the victim spent 20 minutes in the car where the suspect had offered the girl a chance to perform in Kuala Lumpur. She was offered RM4,000,” another source disclosed.

The secondary school student decided to run out of the car after the senior politician touched her shoulder without her consent.

Before touching her shoulder, he had held the girl’s hand. – October 30, 2018.