She has been living in fear of the police and thugs ever since her house was raided two years ago.

The raid in early 2005 was to arrest her ex-husband Abdul Karim Abdullah, suspected to be a member of the notorious Bentong Kali gang.

Although she informed the raiding party that Karim was no longer living with her as they were divorced in 2000, the police continued to search her house.

When nothing was found, she was taken to the Brickfields police station where she was molested while being questioned. She claimed that a police officer held her head, grabbed her breasts and uttered insults at her.

"I was ashamed and felt insulted by the obscene language used by the officer," Jubayda KA Bakar, 37, told malaysiakini.

She was kept under house arrest for two weeks. Upon her release, she lodged a police report against the officer.

[It was at this time (July 2005) that Karim was killed in a shootout.]

Because of her police report, Jubayda claimed that a hired thug broke into her house and slashed her face and body. The thug again came to her house a few days later to intimidate her.

The second time around, however, her two brothers Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rahman managed to confront the thug. They later lodged police reports against him.

Mother mentally disabled

Juabayda claimed that because of the reports, her two brothers were thrown into the Simpang Renggam prison under the Emergency Ordinance (EO). The charges were trumped up, she said.

Jubayda, who has a 11-year-old son, lives in a shanty wooden house in Bangsar, hidden away from the commercial buildings and food stalls.

She has odd jobs -washing plates and doing other chores. Together with her two brothers, she took care of her mother who is mentally disabled.

The dilapidated house they shared used to be lively, she said.

"The house used to be noisy with kids (her brother Aziz's two children), and my mother used to be okay," she said, referring to her mother's condition now.

Her mother, in her mid-seventies, is tied to the bed post due to her violent behaviour.

"Her condition worsened when I was assaulted, and we completely lost her when my brothers were sent to Simpang Renggam."

Jubayda said her sister-in-law (Abdul Aziz's wife) left home after she received several threatening phone calls asking her to withdraw her report against the thug. Jubayda has no clue of her whereabouts now.

Jubayda and a family friend, acting as her guardian, have tried to seek help from many parties but did not receive any response.

She has written to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, MIC president S Samy Vellu, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, the IGP and Suhakam.

She wants her brothers to be released from Simpang Renggam, and most importantly, she wants action to be taken against the thug who assaulted her and the police officer who sexually harassed her.

"My conscience has been bothering me ever since my brothers were sent to Simpang Renggam, she said, adding her brothers would not be detained if not for her.

Jubayda is also worried for her youngest brother Abdul Aziz whom she heard is "very sick".

KS Narayanan, a family friend, said his next course of action is to send a petition to the King appealing for the release of the brothers.

Narayanan described the EO, under which the brothers are detained, as "being prostituted and commercialised."

Worried of repercussions

In a letter he sent to MIC president Samy Vellu in February this year, Narayanan said that they received anonymous phone calls requesting RM10,000 for the brothers not to be sent to Simpang Renggam.

The payment was not made and the brothers were sent to prison, said Narayanan.

He said the family was approached the second time; this time a request of RM40,000 per person for the release of the brothers was made.

In the letter, he said he brought up the matter to the ACA in Kuala Lumpur.

"They suggested that we pay the money through their arrangement, which was not practicable," he claimed.

Narayanan lamented that Jubayda's complaint letters never reached the prime minister.

"His secretaries or other officials sent copies of the letters to the same police officers whom she was complaining about," said Narayanan in his letter to Samy.

Jubayda said although she is willing to go public, she is afraid of the possible repercussions.

"I'm scared what might happen for telling my story," she said.

Brickfields Assistant OCPD Supt Arjunaidi Mohd declined to comment on the matter when contacted yesterday.