Darren Chan, the founder of the now-infamous dating app Sugarbook, has been arrested once again over the allegations of rape and offering prostitution services.
Selangor police CID chief SAC Datuk Fadzil Ahmat revealed that the 34-year-old was detained following a report received from a student at a local university.
As per Harian Metro, the incident reportedly took place in Subang Jaya on 19th February 2019. Based on the allegations received, the suspect was detained to assist in the investigation according to Section 376 of the Penal Code and Section 372 of the same code.
Meanwhile, Fadzil added that the state prosecution has made a review application on the decision of the Shah Alam Magistrate’s Court which rejected the remand application against the suspect. Just yesterday, the court rejected the police application to remand Darren to facilitate the investigation into allegations that the dating site has been used as a platform to find mistresses.
Foong Cheng Leong, the lawyer representing Darren, stated that the High Court Deputy Registrar Noorasyikin Sahat rejected the authority’s application after his client promised to give full cooperation to the police. So far, the police has received 74 reports linked to Sugarbook, an app that was banned by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), The Star reported.
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Earlier today (Friday, 19th February), the High Court has issued a seven-day remand order against Darren. Judge Noorin Baharuddin issued the order after the suspect agreed to be held in remand to assist in the investigation under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Foong Cheng Leong, in addition to fellow lawyers T Shashi Devan and Low Li Qun, acted as Darren’s legal reps for the case, while Muhammad Iskandar and Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Shukor Abu Bakar prosecuted. Earlier, Shashi Devan submitted that their client had no objection to review the application, as well as relaying the message that he is willing to give cooperation to complete the investigation.
He said, “Our client also thinks it is a good platform for him to provide the information needed so that the investigation can be carried out quickly and completely.” Shashi also requested that the suspect not be handcuffed from the back as he suffered an injury on his shoulder.
Sources: Harian Metro, FMT, The Star.
