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Who Would Have Thought It Could Happen To Us?

Bad things always happen to other people. And we always think that such things won't happen to us. How wrong we can be. Something happened to my hubby, and I pray he won't be scarred by it. After a lot of thought, I'm writing about it here because hubby decided to follow my advice not to press charges. Hari ni kita kena aniaya, tapi tak apa, itu pengajaran. Mungkin Allah nak uji kita, atau nak remind kita. And hopefully, janganlah jadi pada orang lain...

Our car has been in workshop for the past 2 weeks. Since we know this guy - Ramin, a service supervisor with Volvo - ever since we bought the car and dah jadi kawan, he lent hubby his Wira for him to go to work. On Wednesday night, he called saying he's on his way to pick up something in the car. That was quite strange because he normally would call way in advance. So, when he came around 11pm, I went upstairs sebab malas nak change. I heard some noises and hubby called out saying he's going out to Putrajaya with Ramin. I thought they went out for teh tarik with some friends. But he went for such a long time.

Hubby called around 1.30am saying those people are actually police and he's being detained. The Wira is suspected to used in a cable theft in Putrajaya and he's being held for questioning. He said he will call me back. Memang very shocked but since I know it's a ridiculous accusation, I kept calm. And I think I've been watching too much CSI lah. I thought he would be questioned just to help investigation and if there's no evidence he would be let go. I thought our police force also watch CSI as a mandatory extra lessons. I was wrong.

I woke up every hour in the night but hubby didn't come back. After Aliyah went to school, I called my nephew Miqdam and then my eldest brother Angah. Around 10.30am we went to Putrajaya police station. Angah used to be a Ketua Kampung before and he knows his way around having previously bailed out drug addicts, drunks, etc at our kampung. We went to see the investigation officer (IO) to ask the status. We talked nicely and very humbly to him, with him intently watching the TV. But I know he's actually observing us. He told us hubby and Ramin were being remanded for at least 3 days. 3 days! I stopped short of yelling to him my hubby is no thief! I told him the story about the car and that sending it to Ramin saves costs. At one point the IO actually agreed that sending to Volvo is expensive due to the branding. I can sense that he's counter checking the facts - that Ramin is working for Volvo and we drive a Volvo. We were dismissed but the 3 of us sat at the lobby, plotting what else to do.

Then we met up with Ramin's brother and he told us that actually it was a mistake. Good thing Putrajaya has lots of CCTV and the car involved in the theft bore the same plat number but it was a dark blue Proton Saga. Ramin's car is a silver Wira aeroback. But the police are not letting them go yet and he's going off to get help from a friend in Bukit Aman. I got help from Aida whose father used to work in Bukit Aman and also from her uncle, a DSP who happen to be around Putrajaya at that time. But we still need to wait. I know hubby might not be released that day, but I wanted to wait.

Then around 1.10pm hubby called. He said we can come see him and he's being let off. We went to the Unit Jenayah room and I immediately can sense a change in him. He's wearing the T Shirt that suspects wear to the court. And he avoided seeing me in the eye. My brother took him out for a smoke. When he came to sit next to me, Aida called asking about him and whether he's being beaten because if he was, she's telling her uncle. That's when I saw he's got bruises on his left eye. Apparently when we were with the IO that morning, he was being beaten to pulp by the police just a few doors away. The police didn't believe his story. They told him they chased him that night but he lost them and that pissed them off. His feet were red and blue and bruised being bashed up by iron rods.

The police was so convinced he's the thief without checking the CCTV tapes. When told the car is silver, they simply said hubby could have painted the car. They didn't reveal the actual date when the theft took place. When hubby asked, he got beaten. He was asked to confess but hubby won't break under the pressure even when he got a slap every time an officer walked pass him. An officer asked whether dia berani bersumpah dengan Quran, and he said yes, please bring one so that he can bersumpah because he didn't do it. But they never did.

Maybe it was our contacts that finally made the police to let both go. They were actually remanded for 7 days. The police finally said - CCTV tapes "menimbulkan keraguan atas jenis kenderaan yang digunakan" so they don't have a case to detain them. Hello, how stupid can you be when you chased a dark blue Proton Saga for 1/2 an hour and then detained someone who drives a silver Wira aeroback bearing the same plat number. It's only logical that the thief used a false plat number.

We finally took him back around 3.30pm. He told us how the magistrate didn't bother to ask him anything when he was brought to the court. Police wanted 7 days and just being granted. He wanted to ask when the theft happen so that he can produce alibi but the police nudged his shoulder when he wanted to speak. He told how they insulted him, didn't let him explain his whereabouts... Every time he explained, he would get a slap or his feet would be bashed with the iron rods. The police didn't bother to check the facts or even watch the CCTV tapes before questioning him. They so believed he did it because the car was with him when he was picked up. Then he said, some of them came to him before he's released and apologized for treating him badly.

It was a traumatic experience for hubby and us. Knowing him being detained and tortured for nothing. If only the police could have just checked the CCTV tapes and ask his whereabouts on the day the theft happened. Just that 2 acts could have made things simpler and nobody will get hurt. But no, they had to catch someone. Maybe it will look good on their reports. Maybe because the cables cost RM300k that they need to catch someone as it's been a month of no progress. I don't know...

Everybody told hubby to get a lawyer and sue the police. But hubby said he's thinking of me and Aliyah and don't want anything bad to happen to us. Money can't heal the trauma. I left it to him what he wanted to do. When he refused to press charges, I told him that this makes them owe you one. You are at the upper hand because they admitted they made a mistake. And as I watch CSI like 10 times in a week, I told him of one episode in CSI NY when Flack refused to give Taylor his notebook that will expose his officers who took drugs that was confiscated. Flack said that those officers made a mistake but think of the hundreds of murderers, rapists and convicts they helped catch. Perhaps that's the way to look at the incident. Those police might be stupid jerks who didn't follow the correct and logical procedure whom I would love see being punished for what they did to hubby. But they help keep our streets safe. And they apologized.

Hubby said it all seem like a nightmare now. I hope it's a nightmare that won't continue to haunt him in his sleep.

Comments

Dcharmed said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
dcharmed said…
STUPID POLICE!!! That is why I always tell mom... now... POLICE PUN DAH TAK BOLEH NAK RELY ON... no wonder Malaysia makin banyak "penyangak" and not forget to mention... "Rasuah" sampai perut buncit! Sebab tu anak-anak belajar pun makin "Bangak" sebab ade jenis mak bapak suap dengan duit "tak halal"... Gerammmnyerrr.... Anyway thank god everyone is ok! ;)
MasyaAllah! Alhamdulillah selesai dengan selamat. Pasti ada hikmah disebalik dugaan.... Allah amat kasih dan ingin kita lebih dekat padaNya. Sampaikan my salam to Mr Hubby. Wassalam.

p/s - tips for thots:

1. jangan pinjam kereta orang
2. jangan beri orang pinjam kereta
3. jangan bawakan barang orang
4. jangan bawa beg orang
5. dan lain-lain
Anonymous said…
thank god ur hubby got off. police can be very stupid when they r desperate. correct action by ur hubby not to press charges. it will go all the way in paper, police will harass ur family back and at the end nothing from the higher authority. btw, who the judge who allow the remand? that another stupid *****.
Aniza said…
Thanks Adda, ABA, Bahaman.
Thanks for all your thoughts. I still can't shake off the memories out of my head. And most importantly, this experience simply confirms my doubts with our police force's credibility. Who would believe them anymore knowing how stupid they can be... And aniaya orang tu berdosa. I don't know how they can go home and sleep at night.