Was it Robengah or her friend Sumati who denied Rais rape?

KUALA LUMPUR -  A video featuring an Indonesian maid named Sumati, said to be a friend of Robengah, the woman at the centre of internet rumour of an alleged rape involving a cabinet minister has appeared on several pro-UMNO blogs.

The video shows Sumati (in red dress), who worked alongside Robengah (below) at the home of Information, Communications, and Culture minister Rais Yatim, dismissing the allegations as untrue.

“For as long as I have worked here, I never heard of any rape stories,” she said a five minute video clip dated January 6, 2011.

Sumati, who said she knew Robengah since she started work on August 23, 1999, said as room mates, Robengah had never once skipped sleeping in their room, responding to a question whether there had been any night Robengah was absent.

She also said that they were happy with the treatment from Masnah, Rais's wife, during their employment.
“If not, I would not have lasted so long,” she added.

Najib: Don't prejudge

Meanwhile, prime minister Najib Razak, in some of his first comments about the case, questioned why the case, which supposedly took place in 2007, was brought up now.

“We cannot prejudge and pronounce something against someone before proper investigation is done. In any case, what happened was in 2007, the question is why (bring it up) now,” he was quoted as saying.

Since the WikiLeaks revelation about a 'senior' Malaysian minister who allegedly raped his maid, the story has been hotly debated and commented upon on the Internet, prompting Rais to issue a strong denial. Prominent blogger Ahirudin Attan, better known as Rockybru, has questioned the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for dragging its feet in investigating the internet allegations.

Ahirudin's home was broken into early today, with the burglars driving away his car, wristwatch and a kid's scooter belonging to his son.

Speculations about the break-in soon made way to the blogosphere, although it was not established whether it had anything to do with the blogger's heavy reporting of the case. Ahirudin has been thought to be at loggerheads with Rais over the latter's criticism of his blog contents.

- Harakahdaily

Zakhir Mohamad, the Umno blogger, has published what he says is the NGO report made in 2007 on the claim by a former Indonesia made that she was raped by her VVIP ex-employer. This is the report said to have been sent to the Indonesian and the US embassies as well as to the Prime Minister's Office when Pak Lah was PM.