Malaysian man arrested for forcing son, 10, to shoplift regularly

A Malaysian man previously convicted of child abuse has been arrested again on suspicion of forcing his son, 10, to shoplift daily necessities.

Police in Bahau, in Negeri Sembilan state’s Jempol district, were alerted to what initially appeared to be a simple case of theft on Wednesday, The Sun newspaper reported. Staff from a wholesale supermarket had caught the boy trying to steal a 200-gram pack of instant coffee.

But officers soon uncovered a troubling pattern of child exploitation, Jempol police deputy chief R. Premkumar told Bernama news agency.

The boy’s 34-year-old father was believed to have been forcing him to shoplift items such as Nescafe and Milo products from outlets in the area.

“Initial investigations revealed that the suspect frequently directed and forced his eldest son to steal daily necessities from several other business premises previously,” Premkumar said.

“If the victim refused, the suspect would scold him and threaten to inflict physical harm on the child.”

Background checks revealed the father had seven previous convictions for criminal activities and drug-related offences. One of them was for child abuse, indicating that it was not the first time he had harmed children, district police chief Norhisham Mustapar told the Chinese language newspaper China Press.