KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman today called for the government to retable the Independent Police Complaints of Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill, which had been replaced by a watered-down version.

The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) president said the independent external oversight body should not be seen as a punitive measure towards the authority, but to help with restoring public confidence in the police force, following opposition by the officers.

"Relating to this issue, I urge the Home Ministry and also Law and Institutional Reform Ministry to take appropriate action and table the IPCMC Bill in February,” said the former youth and sports minister.

In July last year, Parliament passed the controversial IPCC Bill to replace the earlier IPCMC Bill proposed by the first Pakatan Harapan government.

Last month, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that the IPCC Act 2020 will be enforced in June this year.

The police have long objected to their officers being answerable to the IPCMC, preferring instead to deal with disciplinary cases internally.

Syed Saddiq then urged the Home Ministry to work with the Health Ministry to equip the police force with body cameras to ensure their safety and better accountability.

"Complaints involving public interests cannot be left alone without any action taken.

"The Bill needs to be tabled again for further review to ensure such an incident doesn’t happen again,” he added.

On December 31, a young girl reported that an inspector who was investigating her case allegedly raped her after she had gone to the police station to meet with the suspect.

She was there to complete an ongoing investigation involving a rape case perpetrated by the victim's stepfather.

Earlier today, Kedah police chief Datuk Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad said the suspect has been remanded until January 5 to assist in the investigation under Section 376 of the Penal Code for rape.