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Malaysian police are now saying that they have been misquoted by the press about their comment regarding the student who spoke up about her teacher for telling a rape joke and subsequently receiving a rape threat from a fellow classmate. 

Amid backlash over yesterday’s press conference, where a police spokesperson had reportedly referred to the rape threat as a “joke between friends,” the police force released a statement today to clarify that it was not entirely what they meant. 

“We said it ‘may be a joke’ as a response to reporters but that doesn’t mean it is actually a joke,” the by the Royal Malaysian Police Force said. 

Police accused news outlets Malaysiakini and China Press of publishing “confusing” articles about the press conference they said could ruin police credibility, adding that the news headlines had only “depicted a small part of the press conference.”

“No aspect of the case was perceived as a joke,” the statement continued, adding: “We take all of our police reports seriously and will conduct thorough investigations with our full commitment.”

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani led the press conference yesterday to address the police reports filed by high school student Ain Husniza, 17, regarding her physical education teacher for allegedly telling a rape joke and later receiving a rape threat from a fellow classmate as a result of her speaking out on TikTok. After reports of the press conference were published, more than 20,000 tweets criticizing the police and containing the hashtag went up on the platform.

“The student made two police reports, one regarding something inappropriate her teacher had said. The other report may be a joke between friends that the student was unable to accept,” the 60-year-old had said at the media briefing. 

Ain, who avoided school yesterday, made the two separate police reports at the Saujana Utama police station, according to her father. According to her TikTok video, she quoted her teacher saying: “If you want to rape someone, don’t rape those who are below 18, rape those above 18.”

The audio recording of the rape threat said: “I will rape you and then send you to Thailand.”

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