The young woman depicted as the 'victim of molest' by the teenaged son of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng expressed "shock" and "dismay" today at being dragged into the matter.
In a press statement today, Anya Corke (top) , 21, whose photograph was used by several bloggers to depict a schoolgirl who was allegedly molested, said she has in "not in any way been victimised" by the 16-year-old boy or his family.
"I have never been physically assaulted in any way. The only way in which my 'modesty was outraged' has been (through) the publication of my picture in connection with these scurrilous and unfounded rumours," she said.
A third-year student at Wellesley College in the United States, Corke added that she has not been in Malaysia for seven years now and has "never met or even heard of the people involved".
"Needless to say, I am totally baffled as to how this even happened. I would also like to express my sympathies to the boy who was defamed by these baseless allegations," she said.
Corke's photo used to protect 'real victim'
Corke, a one-time Hong Kong chess champion whose photograph was lifted from another website, also asked that the people and media in Malaysia respect her privacy.
"I hope the public and Malaysian media will... refrain from making unsolicited contact with me and my family, college, chess federation and other affiliations," she said.
The Penang chief minister had on Wednesday lashed out at pro-Umno bloggers for trying to finish off his political career by
wrecking his teenage son's life
with "morally despicable and barbaric" lies.
SMJK Heng Ee principal Goh Boon Poh has also denied that such an incident had happened, and that the person depicted on the blogs is a student at the school.
Since DAP revealed Corke's identity, several bloggers who have been posting on the issue responded by saying that her photograph was used "to protect the identity of the real victim".
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