In a statement, the ministry said it viewed the reports quoting deputy IGP Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani very seriously, adding that it wanted to get more information from the media outlets.

“The home ministry advises media practitioners to maintain the principles of good journalism to preserve the integrity of their published reports,” it said.

The headline of Malaysiakini’s article published yesterday read “Deputy IGP describes rape threat against teen as maybe a joke” and the China Press heading was “Pelajar wanita dihina bergurau”.

Bukit Aman denied these reports and alleged that the headlines of the two media outlets on the issue were confusing. It also released transcripts of the interview to show what the deputy IGP had said.

“The titles of the reports referred only to a part of the statement, and that is irresponsible and could cause concern within the public and taints the police’s credibility on the probe,” it added.

The reports followed a claim by a 17-year-old secondary school student that a physical education teacher had made jokes about rape during a class on sexual harassment on April 23. The video clip went viral on social media.