Popular preacher, Datuk Kazim Elias today lodged a police report against two Facebook users for allegedly making slanderous comments that he claimed had tarnished his reputation as a respectable religious icon in the country.

Kazim said the report was lodged as he felt that the negative comments made by social activist, Syed Azmi Alhabshi and TV personality, Wardina Safiyyah Fadlullah Wilmot were humiliating.

His intention in lodging the police report was to clear his name and reinstate his reputation and the good name of his religious school, Maahad Tahfiz Darul Barakah in Perak.

“I have decided to lodge the report as self-defense as I strongly feel the comments were too negative. I have been labelled the names they coined on social media, following the wide reach of the posts on their respective Facebook pages.

“So, I urge the police to probe the matter, hoping that the slanders hurled towards me and my academy would stop. I also hope that netizens would be extra careful and stop saying things that are beyond the teachings of Islam,” said Kazim when met at the Ipoh police headquarters today.

He said that he will leave the matter to the police for further probe, by observing the existing laws and regulations.

Recently, the media social was abuzz when several students of a religious academy claimed that they were subjected to a series of sexual misconduct.

Subsequently, State chief police, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahim Hanafi said that his quarters were conducting a thorough investigation following the alleged molestation at the religious school.

Perak Religious Department director, Datuk Mohd Yusof Husin said the department had paid a visit to the religious academy and interviewed several students on the matter.