KOTA KINABALU, June 21 — The police here have arrested the 34-year-old woman in a viral video who was seen berating a policeman after she was pulled over for driving a car with an expired road tax.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zaidi Abdullah said the entrepreneur was picked up at a condominium along Jalan Lintas Kepayan here at around 11.20am yesterday and remanded for two days beginning today.
The clothes she was seen wearing in the video — a black, long-sleeve top, jeans and a pink tudung — were seized, along with her handphone, car registration and car keys.
“The clothes were seized as proof of identification that they were worn by the suspect in the incident caught on video, and that she is the right person,” he said during a press conference here.
“We have also seized three smartphones belonging to the policemen on duty during the incident to help investigations.”
Mohd Zaidi said that the police were investigating the case under Section 506 for criminal intimidation.
“The ruckus started after she pulled over to be summoned for her expired road tax and vehicle insurance. She started making threatening statements to the policeman, like ‘Kau siapa mau saman saya, nasib kau lelaki, kalau perempuan saya kasi telanjang kau dan rungkup kau’ (Who are you to fine me, it is fortunate you are a man, if you were a woman, I’d strip you and jump you),” he said.
The cop also alleged that she had repeatedly used the word “rungkup”, in asking him to move away from her, in provoking her “jika tidak kerna police ini, saya rungkup kau” (if not for his policeman here, I’d jump you) and also screamed “biadap, tiada ingriti” just before getting into her vehicle.
“Rungkup” is a Bajau slang word.
The police also took statements from seven police personnel and Rela members and one officer on duty to help with investigations.
“We are now about 80 per cent into the investigations, and the woman has been cooperative since her arrest,” he said.
The incident has garnered widespread attention on social media, with some criticising the suspect’s behaviour as excessive, while others have questioned the motive behind the recording of the video.
The woman, known as “Wawa”, was seen screaming and telling off a policeman while filling in some details in her summons, and later again before getting back into her vehicle, a silver Toyota Harrier.
Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali said the police would investigate the case fairly, and question both the cops on duty and the woman involved.
