IPOH: Former state executive council member Paul Yong - who is accused of raping his domestic helper - remains adamant in court that he was the victim of a political ploy.
The Tronoh assemblyman, who testified under oath on the witness stand on Wednesday (March 16) after he was ordered to enter his defence on the charge, said there were rumours of the possibility of him being replaced as an executive council member due to the unstable Pakatan Harapan government in 2019.
He also said the date of the alleged incident was very close to the swearing-in ceremony for executive council members.
“At that time there were certain parties who were envious of me, because I was holding five important portfolios, and I believe I had political enemies.
“During that time, I could sense I was being followed by different cars each time I left the office to go home, and a neighbour who is also a politician had informed me that there were cars that stopped in front of my house on several occasions,” he said while testifying before Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed on Wednesday.
Yong also said that weird calls were made to his landline, he received poison pen letters, and several individuals disguised as census department personnel visited his house.
When lead counsel Datuk Rajpal Singh questioned Yong on a police report lodged by another politician alleging that a witness under protection had been blackmailed, Yong replied that the witness was the one who had brought his former domestic helper to the police station to lodge a report.
“In the report, the politician had stated that a gun was pointed at the witness, and he was offered RM100,000 to carry out the task (bring the domestic helper to lodge a police report), and also warned that his life could be in danger if he told anyone about it,” he said.
During cross-examination by the state prosecution director Azlina Rashdi, she asked the accused if he had lodged any police report on the accusations, to which Yong replied no.
Azlina said that after the case, Yong was neither replaced nor had the state government fallen immediately, so his version of it being a political ploy was just made up, to which Yong denied again.
Azlina also said the witness under protection had also denied that he was blackmailed.
Yong also denied that he told the domestic helper not to mention what had happened between them to his wife, because both of them would die otherwise.
Yong’s wife Too Choon Looi, 46, who took the stand, said her husband never raped the domestic helper as she left the house on the said day for only 10 minutes.
The housewife said it was impossible for her husband to rape the domestic helper in just ten minutes.
“A friend was there with my husband when I left to go to a fast food restaurant very near by, and when I got home, I did hear the voice of the friend still talking to my husband.
“After the friend left, my husband came to the kitchen for a while, before we went up, showered, had sex and fell asleep,” she said.
Too said the domestic helper was acting normal on the day of the alleged incident, and the next day as well.
“She has been insisting on having a mobile phone, but I refused to give one to her. After that, she did make faces, and sometimes did not carry out her job properly.
“If my husband had indeed committed such a crime, I would not be siding with him, but I am very sure he did not do it,” she added.
She also disagreed with Azlina that the story about her having sex with her husband on that night was an afterthought.
On Dec 7, Yong was ordered to enter his defence for allegedly raping the domestic helper more than two years ago.
Justice Abdul Wahab had ruled that there was a prima facie case against Yong after taking into consideration all the evidence submitted throughout the trial.
On Aug 23, 2019, Yong claimed trial at the Ipoh Sessions Court to a charge of raping his then 23-year-old domestic helper.
The offence was allegedly committed in a room on the top floor of his house in Meru Desa Park between 8.15pm and 9.15pm on July 7 that year.