The police has recommended that Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib, the son of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, be charged with assault.

According to Kuala Lumpur CID chief SAC Kamaruddin Mat Desa, the recommendation was submitted to the deputy public prosecutor yesterday.

"Our recommendation was based following a thorough investigation. We are awaiting the DPP's order for the next course of action," he was quoted in the New Straits Times as saying today.

Not named

Like all police statements regarding this high-profile case, Kamaruddin did not name Sulaiman as the person thought responsible for assaulting former television personality Avaa Vanja Ramli.

He used the term "individual".

When the case first came to light after Avaa lodged a police report o­n April 18, Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Dell Akbar Khan also did not name the "Dato' Sri".

"There is nothing extraordinary about this case. Everything is done according to procedure," he said.

Dell added that the case has been classified as assault under Section 323 of the Penal Code.

For the past week, many Sarawakians had contacted malaysiakini to express their unhappiness at what they perceived as police attempt to conceal the identity of Sulaiman.

"Just because he is a Dato' Sri and the son of the Sarawak chief minister, the police chose to 'shelter' him. If a report was lodged against Ahmad, Ah Kow or Muthu, we can be sure the identity will be revealed," o­ne irate reader fumed.

It was o­nly through the persistent probing of reporters, notably those from the Malay Mail, that the Dato' Sri was identified as Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib. The paper had front-paged reports of the case three times since it emerged.

Jealousy motive?

In her police report made after she was assaulted o­n April 18, Avaa named Sulaiman as her boyfriend who had allegedly pushed and strangled her in a popular bistro in Kuala Lumpur.

She has denied a Malay daily report that jealousy was the reason leading to her being assaulted by Sulaiman. The paper reported that Sulaiman became furious when she found him with another woman at the bistro.

Sulaiman is married to Anisa Chan, 31, daughter of Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan. The couple has four children.

He is the group chairman of Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd and is also Rashid Hussain Bhd's executive chairman.

Sulaiman was conferred the Dato' Sri (honorific title) by the Governor of Sarawak last September.