Police gets a dressing down for denying the right to lodge report from Gobind

Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo strongly condemned the police for refusing entry to a woman on the basis that her pant-skirt allegedly violated dress code.

“The fundamental purpose of a police station is to serve the public, protect citizens and facilitate the reporting of crimes and accidents which are required in law,” he said in a statement.

“Denying a person the right to file a police report because of how they are dressed is not just an abuse of authority but is also obstruction of justice as persons are required in law in many instances, to lodge reports when incidents occur.

“It is therefore the duty of a police officer to facilitate access of persons to police stations for that purpose and not the reverse.

The immediate and primary focus of the police officer on duty should have been to assist the victims in recording the details of the incident and not turning them away as in this case.

A woman was denied entry to Jasin police headquarters yesterday. Her attire was deemed unsuitable for government premises.

The incident happened at 5 pm. She was told to return home and change before she eventually made the report.

Gobind also called upon the Inspector General of Police to issue a clear directive to all police stations so that no one is denied their right to lodge a report.

“The police have no right to impose upon anyone standards which are unilateral, arbitrary and/or unreasonable.

“They must instead ensure that all police stations remain accessible to all citizens at all times for the purposes of lodging police reports.”

He confirmed that he would be raising this matter with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, adding that all SOPs that denies access to public to lodge a report will be reviewed.