Nude ear-squat woman saw her act on TV news
Maria J. Dass and S. Tamarai Chelvi
KUALA LUMPUR: The woman depicted doing nude ear-squats while in police detention only found out that her strip search was captured on video when she saw the 71-second clip over television news.
The 22-year-old Malay woman broke down when the un-censored clip was played in court.
She was comforted by an investigating officer who was by her side to help her maintain her composure.
 "I was at home watching the news on TV when I saw the clip," she told the Commission of Inquiry into the Standard Operating Procedure, Approaches or Regulations in the Handling of Body Search in Connection with Arrests and Detention yesterday. It was Day Two of the inquiry.
The woman, who appeared in court wearing a purple baju kurung, black jacket and black tudung, is three months pregnant.
She said she recognised the woman in the clip as herself when she saw her back, her hair, her body, her hair band and her face.
Commission chairman Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah who had earlier issued a gag order prohibiting the press from publishing the name, identity and personal particulars of the witness, then asked the woman when she started wearing a head-scarf.
"I only wore it today and prior to this I donned the head-scarf for functions," she said.
To this, Dzaiddin asked her if she done anything to her hair since then and if she could remove it for the court to view her hair colour and texture. He also asked her to lift her sleeve to show her skin colour to see if it was consistent with that of the woman in the clip.
Saying that she had cut her hair since then, the woman removed her head-scarf and showed the court her hair, she then lifted her sleeve .
Relating her ordeal to the commission, the woman said her nightmare began when she was detained by police at Sekolah Rendah Damansara Jaya at about 1am on June 29 this year, together with five male companions.
This included her then boyfriend whom she married on Sept 25 this year.
She said they were arrested for possession of dadah (syabu) by five officers from the Damasara Utama police station.
The woman could not remember their names but identified one of them -Chief Inspector Razali Selvaraju - who was brought into court to be identified.
She said from the Damasara Utama police station, she was later transported to the Petaling Jaya police station where she was received by Lance Corporal Wan Zawati@Zalina Wan Ismail at dawn.
Wan Zawati, who was in uniform and slippers - which she changed into as she had earlier intended to perform her morning prayers - then took her to the police station toilet to obtain a urine sample.
"I was then asked to strip and do ear-squats in the locker room," said the woman.
She said the door behind the policewoman was not locked but she did not notice if the window behind her was closed or that someone was recording her actions.
"However when I crossed my arms and held my ears, I was told to instead hold each ear parallel with my hands," she said.
When commissioner Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim asked her how she felt, the woman who was on the verge of breaking down, said: "Ashamed and angry but I followed orders ... I had to.
"I crossed my hands over my chest first but was told by the officer that this was normal and that all detainees go through the same procedure," said the woman.
She said she did about 10 ear squats but nothing came out of it.
The woman did not remember seeing or hearing any other police personnel in the surrounding of the room.
When officer conducting the inquiry Suhaimi Ibrahim asked her whether she had heard people praying in the background, she said yes, adding that it was clear.
The woman said that she, her husband and the four other people arrested together with them have been charged for drug possession at the Petaling Jaya magistrate court. The six of them are out on bail.
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