Assaults took place in the gym

TAIPING: It was more than just groping her body.

This was the shocking revelation made to The Malay Mail by a teenager who had earlier alleged that her 47-year-old silat instructor had molested her.

She said it had gone on for an entire year before she gathered enough courage to report the matter.

The 16-year-old school dropout claimed that she was first raped in June 2002 after training at a gym in Taman Ayer Kuning.

Recounting her ordeal, she said the man grabbed her from behind when she was about to leave the gym.

"I blacked out.

When I came to, I found myself naked," she said.

She said she left immediately, after putting on her clothes without confronting the father of eight.

The girl, who was 14 at the time, said the silat instructor had made suggestive overtures.

She said he had offered her so-called magical powers to maintain her beauty and physical strength.

"He was not happy when when I turned down his offer, but I never thought he would turn on me physically," she added.

She said she was not sure what had happened and thus kept the matter to herself.

Each time, the sequence of the instructor's alleged `rapes' was the same: A grab on any part of her body, followed by blackouts.

However, she remembered that her instructor had warned her not to tell anyone of what he did.

"He threatened me with black magic if anyone were to find out (what happened)," she said.

Her instructor's lust did not stop at the gym.

Once, she was instructed to fondle the man's penis when they were travelling on a bus for the Royal Pahang Martial Arts Festival in Kuantan in June, last year.

Just before she was about to compete, the man suggested a `mandi bunga' ritual, with him giving her the bath.

"I was baffled by his suggestion.

It was four hours before I was due to compete.

I refused," she said.

"I had enough of his antics, I just quit the sport after that," she said.

Courage to confront the matter came with the help of another silat instructor, who had taught her previously.

Accompanying the girl during the interview yesterday, the man, who is in his late 30s, said he saw a distinct change in her behaviour and suspected that something was wrong.

"She is a bright kid.

Very talented and dedicated to her sport.

The six months I observed her showed a different person from the one I knew," he said.

He said initially she merely said that the man had groped her, but admitted later that it was more than that.

Written by NAJMAN ZAINUDDIN
Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20334385_ITM