PARLIAMENT | Two opposition MPs did not appear to take the topic of men suffering from domestic abuse seriously during a debate in Parliament today. 

Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) had made light of the topic by taking veiled jabs at the prime minister and his wife, while Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR-Ampang) cast doubts on the accuracy of statistics on the matter.

Government statistics state that between 2014 and 2016, of the 15,617 domestic violence cases, 26 percent involved husbands being abused.

The statistics were one of the catalysts to propose amendments to the Domestic Violence Act, expanding protection from women to any family member who is suffering abuse.

During the second reading of the amendments, Irmohizam Ibrahim (BN-Kuala Selangor) and Ahmad Lai Ujang (BN-Sibuti) both expressed concerns about this. 

Ahmad had, while interjecting Irmohizam's speech, said that husbands should be brave enough to come forward if they are being abused.

Irmohizam agreed, noting that Ahmad may have heard of such cases in his constituency or among his associates. 

This last remark incited a laugh from Mahfuz. 

When Irmohizam then mentioned that men becoming domestic abuse victims were a serious matter, Mahfuz piped in to say "because the wife wanted diamonds".

The Kuala Selangor MP brushed this off as conjecture, and moved on with his speech, proposing that the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry provide counselling for battered husbands. 

He then suggested that Mahfuz may have his own formula to solve the problem. 

The PAS lawmaker responded by saying that his wife did not abuse him and did not ask him "to buy a pink diamond". 

This was an obvious jab aimed at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor. 

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) last month claimed that Penang businessperson Jho Low had used funds allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB to purchase a US$27.3 million pink diamond necklace for the wife of Malaysian Official 1 (MO1). 

While neither MO1 nor his wife was named by the DOJ, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the lawsuit had implicated Rosmah. 

Rahman had last year also confirmed that MO1 was Najib.

However, he said the fact that Najib was not named showed the prime minister was not a subject of investigations.

Najib has repeatedly denied abusing public funds for personal gain and attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing

Mahfuz's jab did not spark a reaction and was brushed off again by Irmohizam as conjecture. 

'Review the statistics'

Meanwhile, Zuraida had also interjected Irmohizam's speech, asking for statistics about abused husbands to be reviewed. 

She claimed that this is because most of these husbands had been beaten by the male relatives of their wives. 

"The (statistics) is not because the husband is dayus (effeminate) or lembik (soft) and that the wife beats him," Zuraida said.

Irmohizam said this was an assumption as well, but added that the government should make the domestic abuse statistics more detailed so as to not to stray from the issue.

The BN lawmaker had also called for training for police officers so that they understand the protection orders that can be issued under the Domestic Violence Act. 

This, he said, would ensure that the women and children who need emergency protection, receive it when they need it.

He also cited a 2009 Universiti Sains Malaysia study which found that nine percent of Malaysian women had suffered some form of domestic abuse in their lives. 

"This means up to 800,000 women may have been abused," Irmohizam said. 

He said, however, the responsibility to tackle domestic abuse falls not only on the authorities but also the public.