A birthday for a 22-year-old autistic man turned into a nightmare when he was arrested for allegedly molesting a woman.
In the incident which happened on September 12, Ahmad Ziqri and his family were at a roast and grill restaurant in Subang Jaya when they learned that Ahmad had touched the chest of a woman.
The parents of the traumatised woman then lodged a police report which led to the subsequent ordeal for Ahmad to spend a night behind bars on September 11.
To allay his fears, Hasnah Abdul Rahman, the mother of Ahmad had to lie to her son that he was in shoot for a famous series on the Malaysian police, Gerak Khas.
Despite the trauma that Ahmad now is nursing, Hasnah understands the situation.
"I'm not blaming the police, and I don't blame the complainant either. Putting myself in her shoes, it can be a harrowing experience, especially when you are not exposed to autism and my son looks like a normal guy," she is reported to have said.
Meanwhile, National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom) chairman Feilina Muhammad Feisol has called on the government to review and adopt different policies when handling differently abled people.
"There is none here. So, what we have seen is that the police cannot act on their own understanding because they have a procedure to follow," she explains.
Feilina adds that people with autism generally have trouble comprehending rights and wrongs.
