Cosplaying is a fun activity. You get to dress up and become your favorite character. But for many cosplayers in Malaysia, it comes with hidden dangers as well.
Chin Pui Ting aka Pudds was harassed and stalked at Anime Fest, a festival that celebrates animation, comics, and games.
The festival is a great place to cosplay and meet other cosplayers. Unfortunately, in recent years, it's become notorious for cases of sexual harassment with many cosplayers, often women, stalked.
The perverts.
The amount of harassment stories I see around my circle is RIDICULOUS. Men are so disgusting.
I unfortunately bumped into one.
Apparently he has been harassing many girls even before this event, and also stalked, harassed, and attacked @deadpudds pic.twitter.com/ozFx3goSSm — Koi 烤鱼 (@koi_goreng) May 17, 2022
Pui Ting, who was cosplaying at the festival on May 16, 2022, was approached by an unknown man who skipped the queue to take photos with her. According to a police report that was uploaded by Pui Ting to Twitter, the man had been stalking her on Instagram for four months.
The police report revealed that the man even attempted to contact Pui Ting numerous times on social media and even drew cartoon characters of himself and her in a romantic relationship. It's important to note here that Pui Ting doesn't know the man, let alone have any relationship with him.
Pui Ting decided it was best to lodge a police report for her own safety after the stalker attempted to force his way into her booth to take a photo with her.
However, the police report came with a price.
I went to the police station in my cosplay because i needed to make the report fast. The officer told me “u pakai macam ni, jual gambar macam ni, ini adalah consequences you.” “You pun juga salah”. Tiba2 event kena stalk kena slut shame buy1free1 — Pudds 👻 (@deadpudds) May 17, 2022
"I went to the police station in my cosplay because I needed to make the report fast," Pui Ting tweeted.
The police officer allegedly said, "You wear like this and sell photos, these are the consequences. You're in the wrong too."
Frustrated, Pui Ting took to Twitter to express her disappointment at the police officer.
The perverts.
The amount of harassment stories I see around my circle is RIDICULOUS. Men are so disgusting.
I unfortunately bumped into one.
Apparently he has been harassing many girls even before this event, and also stalked, harassed, and attacked @deadpudds pic.twitter.com/ozFx3goSSm — Koi 烤鱼 (@koi_goreng) May 17, 2022
"Who does this alpha male police think he is? Is it bc I don't have father he want to roleplay suddenly?"
As Pui Ting's tweet became viral (3,373 retweets as of the time of writing), Malaysiakini quoted Petaling Jaya district police chief Mohamad Fakhruddin Abdul Hamid as saying that the police officer will be investigated.
Hopefully, this serves as a lesson that stalking, slut-shaming, and victim-blaming never pays.
Read more stories:
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