In Malaysia, viral shoe-sniffing video sparks stalking arrest

A man suspected of repeatedly stalking a 22-year-old university student has been arrested in Malaysia after CCTV footage showing him sniffing her shoes outside her flat went viral on social media.

The footage shows a man in a black T-shirt loitering in a corridor outside what is believed to be the victim’s home in Shah Alam, before reaching through a grille to grab her footwear and sniff it.

The victim lodged a police report on Sunday after the post drew widespread attention, claiming to have been repeatedly harassed by the same man since April, both at her university and around her residence.

Police arrested the suspect at 8.30pm on Sunday. “The suspect, who is in his twenties, is also a university student,” Shah Alam district police chief Assistant Commissioner Sarudin Samah said in a statement on Monday. “Initial checks found that he has no prior criminal record and tested negative for drugs.”

Police obtained a one-day remand order from Shah Alam Magistrates Court to allow further investigations.

Anti-stalking law

Stalking was criminalised in Malaysia three years ago under Section 507A of the Penal Code, which came into force in May 2023. The law faced its first major test just months later, when photographer Acacia Diana went public with an eight-year ordeal of relentless stalking and cyber harassment.