ALOR SETAR: An interim protection order (IPO) will be obtained by the state Welfare Department to prevent a 36-year-old man from contacting his wife and three young daughters whom he allegedly forced to beg in the streets to fund his drug habit.

Kuala Muda welfare assistant officer Ridzwan Ramli said the IPO was to protect the woman, 29, and her daughters, aged five, six and eight, from her husband.

“We have contacted the police to get more information on the incident.

“The woman and her daughters are now safe as they are staying with a relative in Taman Ria, Sungai Petani,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Kuala Muda OCPD Asst Comm Md Zukir Md Isa said the man would be remanded until Friday pending investigations into the incident.

He was brought into the Sungai Petani magistrate’s court at about 11am.

He flashed his middle finger at photographers who were taking his photos and was heard asking them whether they had taken enough pictures as he alighted from the police truck.

On the same day, Sungai Petani MCA secretary Ko Hung Weng visited the woman and her daughters who were given RM250 worth of school necessities such as uniforms and shoes.-thestar