Deaf Grab driver sues police, government over St Regis assault case that sparked public outrage

The deaf e-hailing driver who was punched in the face by a police officer accompanying a royal entourage has filed a suit against his assailant, naming four others, including the inspector-general of police and the Malaysian government, as defendants, more than two years after the incident sparked protests and a debate on the rule of law in the country.

In his suit filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 10, Grab driver Ong Ing Keong named policeman Muhammad Taufik Ismail as the first defendant, and another officer who he said had pressured him into withdrawing his report lodged at the Jalan Travers police station about an hour after the assault on May 28,2024.

Taufik, 34, who was part of Johor regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim's (TMJ) royal entourage, was only charged almost six months after the incident. He avoided jail after pleading guilty and was fined RM1,000, a decision criticised by lawyers, disability groups and human rights activists.

Ong said the defendants had committed assault and negligence, misfeasance in public office, and breached the Police Act and the Persons with Disabilities Act.

In addition to damages, Ong is seeking declarations that the police breached their statutory duties, and a mandatory injunction requiring the police to provide access to Malaysian Sign Language interpreters at police stations.

In his statement of claim, Ong recalled how he was punched without warning by Taufik while waiting to pick up four passengers at the lobby of the St Regis Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Ong, who has hearing and speech impairments, said he was instructed to move his vehicle even though passengers were still boarding.

He said Taufik, who was in plain clothes, punched him through the driver's side window once the passengers had boarded, causing injuries that required medical treatment and leaving him feeling "very shocked, scared, traumatised, and humiliated".

Ong later lodged a police report at the Travers police station before seeking treatment at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

But upon his return to the police station, officers seized his mobile phone and demanded that he delete the dashcam recording and withdraw his report.

Ong said that throughout his ordeal at the police station, he was not provided with a sign language interpreter as required under Section 30 of the Persons with Disabilities Act.

He said another police officer later pressured him to withdraw his police report and accept RM800 as compensation, failing which his phone would be confiscated.

Ong said he eventually signed documents prepared by the police without being told their contents, before he was warned against circulating the dashcam recording of the incident.

The video, which Ong later revealed to the media through rights group Lawyers for Liberty, showed him waiting for passengers when a man shouted at him to move his car to make way for TMJ's entourage. As he rolled down his window to speak to the man, the man suddenly punched him hard in the face.

Ong had previously rejected a claim by the then city police chief, Rusdi Mohd Isa, that he had withdrawn his police report because it was a "misunderstanding".

Public outrage grew when it was revealed that a "palace representative" had asked Ong to withdraw his complaint.

The delay in taking action was also criticised by the government's Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), which questioned then attorney-general Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh over his silence.

In September 2024, members of disabled communities gathered outside Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's office in Putrajaya to protest the long delay in bringing charges against Ong's assailant, as well as those involved in getting him to withdraw his police report.

Following the RM1,000 fine imposed on Taufik, Ong told MalaysiaNow that he was disappointed.

"I am very disappointed by the court's decision to fine that man a mere RM1,000," he told MalaysiaNow with the help of a friend acting as an interpreter.

The assault also took place in the same month that Ong lost his 14-year-old son, who was killed in a road accident.

"After that, I was very sad. I also felt that it was wrong of me to go out to work and leave my wife alone in the house," said Ong.

"Was it not enough that my son had just died? After that, this happened to me and my crying face became a public spectacle."