Strikingly similar incidents have been reported while scores of detainees have been otherwise abused in police custody without as much as a whisper of an outburst, said the Police Watch and Human Rights Committee today.

"What about justice to the hundreds if not thousands of others who were not as fortunate and suffered their ordeal and trauma in silence?"asked its legal advisor P Uthayakumar.

"What about justice to the scores of detainees who are abused, ridiculed and beaten up on a daily basis in police lock-ups?" he added when contacted.

He was commenting on the outburst from all levels of society following the disclosure that a woman had been forced to strip and perform ear squats in front of a policewoman.

The incident, which was recorded and passed around through multimedia messaging services (MMS), elicited nation-wide condemnation following its exposure Thursday by DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok.

Although this is the first time that such abuse had been caught on video and made public, there had been many reports similar to or worse than the incident concerned, said Uthayakumar.

Oral sex case

"I know of a police report made over a woman who had been forced to perform oral sex on a male detainee (in a police station in Selangor). What happened to that?

"Or more recently, what about our police report made regarding the wife of (fugitive) Michael Soosai being assaulted and abused and taunted with lewd remarks ?" he asked.

His views were echoed earlier today by Kok and opposition leader Lim Kit Siang who, in a press conference, said the current scandal was merely the first time that such an incident had been visually recorded.

Kok also cited the incident involving 25- year-old reformasi activist , Nor Azimah Mohd Nor.

Nor Azimah, detained after a rally in November 2000, told the magistrate that she was forced to strip naked at the Kapar police lock-up and asked to squat and stand up10 times by a woman police officer.

"This is not an isolated case. It's just the tip of an iceberg," Lim said of the video clip after attending the Parliament's open house this morning.

Independent commission

Uthayakumar also questioned Deputy Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan's statement regarding promises to punish the person who had recorded the incident.

"We are not surprised. His statement is typical of the 'police cover-up mind-set' of going after the complainant instead of investigating the complaint.

"If any action should be taken against the person, it should be for failing to lodge a police report after witnessing the crime occurring in the heart of a police station," he added.

Uthayakumar also said the incident should be the catalyst to the immediate setting-up of the Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission as proposed by the Police Royal Commission.

The Commission had in May recommended the formation of an independent agency to oversee public complaints against the police.

The principal functions will be to hold inquiries into public complaints, curb police corruption, and formulate mechanisms to detect, investigate and prevent serious misconduct.

"Such an agency would have independent investigative and prosecution powers just as the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Securities Commission have powers to investigate and prosecute," he said.

Lim had also raised a similar point, saying that the Cabinet, during its weekly meeting on Wednesday, should give priority to the establishment of the independent commission.