Reacting to reports on the arrest of a 22-year-old autistic man, Wan Azizah, who is also women, family and community development minister, said there should be further understanding of autism and its effects on a person.

“The mother has explained that he (the accused) has the mental age of a 13-year-old.

“We should leave the matter to the court to understand the condition of autism (and its effects),” she said after launching Taska Krista@RedQ, a childcare centre, at AirAsia headquarters here.

It was reported that the autistic man was detained following a report made by the victim on Sept 11.

Police had applied for a remand order against him to facilitate investigation under Section 354 of the Penal Code for outrage of modesty.

But the application was rejected by the Petaling Jaya Court on Sept 12.