Esha’s cyberbully case: Why was there no immediate action against the lodged reports?

The family of TikTok influencer A Rajeswary aka Esha are questioning the lack of immediate police action following her police report.

This comes in the wake of suspect Shalini Periasamy otherwise known as Alphaquinnsha being merely slapped with a RM100 fine after being charged under Minor Offences Act.

Lawyer Harpal Singh who is representing Esha’s family said that his clients are questioning why was there no “immediate action” after Esha lodged a report.

“The family said, how can the girl just get away with RM100 when they lost their daughter. I already managed to explain to them that these are the legal consequences that we have in Malaysia right now,” he said.

“But sometimes, families are bereaved and you can’t help it.”

He also doubted that the police probed the cyberbullying aspect on the case.

He said that the police never looked into her phones for possible further evidence that could have led to charges of more serious crimes.

Harpal who had previously explained why Shalini got away with a slap on the wrist said that police should have considered using section 304 of the Penal Code which criminalises culpable homicide.

He also pointed out that the police failed to probe on the contents of Esha’s when she was detained for three days in Perlis for a separate case.

“That is also a question of whether police have really tried to obtain the handphone and send it for cybersecurity (analysis) to retrieve whatever data in the phone and show the link with the investigation here,” he said.

“We should know, prior to her suicide, what happened, who she last spoke to, what was the length of (the conversation), all the details,” he added, noting that either phone could provide crucial evidence about why Esha took her own life, and lead to charges for more serious offences like culpable homicide.