KUALA LUMPUR: The National Sports Council will leave the investigation into the alleged rape reported during the ongoing Sukma Games to the police.

NSC director-general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong said he was only informed of the matter on Sunday morning.

“According to reports (in a local daily), it’s become a police case so I’ll leave it to the police.

“It is the first such case to be reported in Sukma and has interrupted the flow of the event this time,” said Zolkples, who is also 2013 Sukma managing committee chairman, during a news conference at the Sukma Main Media Centre here.

Reports said that a handball athlete participating in Sukma had alleged that she was raped by a group of male handball athletes at the sports village in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) last Wednesday.

The 19-year-old said she was unconscious when the men took turns raping her. Prior to the incident, she was reportedly drinking with several male handball athletes at a basketball court.

Three handball players, aged between 18 and 19, have been arrested in connection with the rape .

Zolkples said he would contact the contingent on the matter.

“There was an offence and we (NSC) will get to the bottom of it with the Federal Territory contingent.

“This can happen anywhere. In terms of safety, we have the cooperation of the police, and UPM has also increased the number of safety officers to monitor the sports village,” he said.

Zolkples said security guards on duty monitored the area in the sports village but did not check every room.

“We have almost 4,000 athletes staying at the sports village, it’s difficult to check each room. We also separate the blocks, according to gender, for safety purposes,” he said.

– THE STAR