Witness Norazimah Mohd Nor told the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) inquiry this afternoon that she was ordered by a policewoman to take off her clothes, including her underclothes.
"She then told me to perform10 pump-ups in front of her," Norazimah said.
Even though she protested, Norazimah told the inquiry, the policewoman called Dayang Safinah screamed at her: "Don't be stubborn! Just shut up and do as you're told!"
Norazimah was relating the incident which happened in the Kapar police station lock-up following her arrest on Nov 4 last year, a day before the scheduled "100,000 People's Gathering" on Jalan Kebun, Shah Alam, while setting up her stall selling reformasi merchandise.
She recalled that after refusing to leave the area despite warnings from the police, she was then handcuffed and taken to Kapar.
Norazimah gained media limelight when she first told reporters at a press conference that she was forced to strip naked and perform pump-ups in front of a policewoman after being arrested. (Abused female detainee to sue police, Nov 15)
"I spent six days in the police station and there were eight others in the cell. The first night in the lock-up I was ordered by a policewoman named Dayang Safinah into a cell."
Chairman of the three-member panel, Anuar Zainal Abidin, asked if there were males in the cell together with them, to which Norazimah said "no".
"There were only women in there. When they saw what Dayang was doing to me (asking me to strip off my clothes), they moved to the adjoining cell," said Norazimah, who is a mother of five.
When asked why they did so, Norazimah replied: "They must have been embarrassed".
She added that there were no other police personnel present.
Another woman abused
The Suhakam inquiry is investigating allegations of police brutality against the participants of the gathering.
About 10,000 people were on their way to Jalan Kebun in Shah Alam, on Nov 5 but the gathering, organised by opposition party Keadilan, was aborted due to police road blocks, forcing supporters to abandon their cars on the nearby Kesas Highway.
Norazimah told the inquiry she saw another inmate being subjected to the same "treatment"a few days later.
"Another woman, Rozimah, was also told to take her clothes off and perform pump-ups," she said.
Meanwhile, another witness, S Pushpa, stated that while returning to Klang, he had been set upon by five to six riot policemen.
"One policeman grabbed my bottle of water to wash his face and drink because of the tear gas. After throwing the water away, he beat me.
"Then around five to six riot policemen surrounded me. One of them gave me a flying kick on the right side of my face.
"I blacked out and when I came to, I discovered that my lips were bleeding," Pushpa said.
He added that when transferred to a police truck, the riot policemen verbally abused him and the others who were detained in the truck.
"They used abusive words and beat up the people in the truck. They yelled at us, saying, ' Ini semua muka main buntut punya orang! Ini juga penyokong orang main buntut! '"
The inquiry will continue at 9.30am tomorrow at Suhakam's headquarters in Menara Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur.
