So when his only daughter was sodomised during a recent trip to Penang, the 39-year-old church minister from South Korea exhausted all his resources to seek justice for his girl.

Dissatisfied with the progress of the case, Y.G. In, 39, is appealing to the state's police to speed up their investigations and to ensure justice is being brought to the 31/2-year-old fast.

"My daughter has been traumatised since the incident, yet the culprit is still roaming the streets freely. It is unfair that my daughter has to go through all this at such a tender age. I hope the police will act fast and put the culprit behind bars," he told the New Straits Times after a meeting with the Northeast district police yesterday.

His disappointment was evident from his looks and his comments about the police.

In, who does not speak a word of English, had his frustration related through an interpreter.

Relating his story, In said he, his wife, daughter and eight youth members from his church had come to Penang for an outreach programme at the South Korean Church in Pulau Tikus from July 21 to 29.

The fateful incident happened about 4.30pm on July 27. At that time, In's wife was speaking at the front of the church with him standing beside while their daughter was playing in a room behind the church.

A witness, who was also present during yesterday's meeting, T.Y. Kim, 20, a student from South Korea, said she had walked out to freshen up.

"I saw a male church member holding the little girl's hand leading her to the female toilet. I did not suspect anything amiss and went back into the building," she said.

In said about 10 minutes later, his daughter ran up to her mother screaming that her private parts hurt.

"My wife stopped her testimony and tried to calm our girl as she was shouting at the top of her voice. My wife then took her to the back of the church and the man who had accompanied my daughter to the toilet followed," he said, adding that his wife removed the girl's pants and found blood stains on them.

In said when his wife asked their daughter who had hurt her, she pointed to the man who had taken her to the toilet.

"He immediately ran off after that. We took our daughter to a nearby clinic and a doctor confirmed there were bruises and scars on her rectum," he said, adding that the doctor referred them to the Penang Hospital.

He lodged a police report that night itself.

In said police picked up the man last Tuesday. His daughter identified the man during an identification parade two days later, but he was released the following day.

"My daughter is so frightened now. She has begun biting herself and us," In said, showing bite marks on his arms.

"All we want is justice to be served. She does not deserve all this. What saddened us is the fact that the police had not been forthcoming. I will not give up. I will fight till the end for my daughter."

While the rest of the group had since returned home, the Ins stayed back to assist police investigations.

State Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner II Wan Abdullah Tuanku Said said police would investigate the matter further but declined to elaborate.