Student nabbed over mooning incident

A college student has been arrested over the antics of some participants at the countdown event at Dataran Merdeka on Merdeka Day eve.

The 19-year-old male student was arrested at a college in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur at noon. 

According to a news alert bySin Chew Daily, the student was accused of pointing his bare buttocks at photographs of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor during the event.

But Star Online offered a different account, instead claiming that the student was arrested for stepping on photographs of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife.

According to Star Online, a tip-off by the public led to the arrest and the student will be held at the Dang Wangi police station for questioning.

"The police also spoke to two other witnesses who were there during the event," said Bukit Aman national police headquarters CID principal assistant director Abdul Jalil Hassan.

Police are investigating the mooning incident under Section 509 of the Penal Code for a word or gesture intended to insult the modesty of the person.

Upon conviction, an offender can be jailed for up to five years, fined or both.

The police are also on the lookout for individuals who stepped on photographs of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor at the same event.

The police this act was being investigated under Section 290 of the Penal Code for committing a public nuisance and Section 504 of the same law for causing an intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

Civil society groups and Pakatan Rakyat have been blamed for the bad behaviour of some of the participants of the Janji Demokrasi gathering during the Merdeka Day eve event.

An estimated 10,000 people joined the Janji Demokrasi event, which was designed to highlight the unfulfilled promises of the federal government to bring forth true electoral reforms.