The brutal rape and murder of Noor Suzaily is a tragedy. The bus company that employed a wanted man with such a criminal record as the driver of a public vehicle must be held accountable.

The Government must require that public transport companies conduct a stringent security check on all prospective employees who are entrusted with the safety of the public.

Noor Suzaily’s rape also belie the claim made by some political leaders that women are raped and molested because of the way they dress. In spite of her modest dressing, Noor Suzaily was still raped and sodomised.

Women’s groups have always asserted that rape is a violent crime perpetrated by men to assert their control and dominance over women. It is an exercise of power by men and their desire to subjugate those weaker and smaller than them. The way women dress is not the cause of rape.

We urge our male political leaders to take the lead in changing society’s attitudes towards women by making a public commitment to treat women as fellow human beings of equal worth, respect and dignity, and to take steps to end the institutionalisation of male dominance over women and children in the family and in society.

Sisters in Islam
Kuala Lumpur
12 October 2000