IPOH: Facilities, including the salary received by Mohamad Ashraf Hassan, who went missing while participating in the Gopeng Ultra Trail (GUT) Run 2019 in March, continues to be paid even though he is yet to be found.
Mohamad Ashraf, 29, or better known as Acap, is a laboratory technician with the Muar Health Clinic.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said as a civil servant, the facilities received by Mohamad Ashraf was maintained until there was a final decision on his situation.
“He is so called missing, but his position is still there ... there is a certain process when one disappears. For the time being, the Public Service Department has to pay his salary,” he told reporters after officiating the seminar on ‘Hentikan Penderaan Peringkat Negeri Perak’ (Stop Abuse At The Perak State Level) in Meru, here today.
Mohamad Ashraf disappeared on March 23 and the search operation for him was suspended temporarily on April 17 after no new clues were found by the search party.
Earlier in his speech, Dr Lee said 451 cases of child abuse were recorded in Perak last year with a majority of them involving girls.
“As for the category of abusers, the boyfriend of the mother or women were the main group, followed by the victims own father or stepmother,” he said adding that most of the cases occurred at home.
Dr Lee said 90% of the abusers were individuals who had been abused in the past.
“The problem of abuse must be stopped, we want a community that practices you see, you hear, you report (abuse cases),” he added. - Bernama
