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When Rocky the dog died during a stray-catching operation in Kajang last week, Malaysians were angry, and understandably so.

What happened next was less understandable.

Malaysian influencer Syakila Nisha Jangir Khan — known online as @kilafairyofficial — posted a photo of a man she identified as responsible for Rocky’s death, captioning it: “May you rot in hell, you bastard. You killed someone’s baby. Semoga satu keluarga kau ditimpa bala.”

The post got 2.9K likes and 601 reposts before she said anything else.

A follower then posted the same photo — this time with a pig’s face edited over the man’s head, captioned: “he’s the one who killed my rocky.”

Kila did not scroll past it; she replied: “Babi pun lagi mulia dari dia.”

When another commenter pushed back, she wrote: “LOOOOOOL. Bye. Please dont be in my comment section.”

The thread had 9,400 views; the pig-head image had already spread.

Even outspoken Malaysian Chinese Muslim convert Firdaus Wong Wai Hung weighed in: quoting Kila’s words back at her, citing a hadith that the Prophet (pbuh) named “mulut dan kemaluan” as the mouth’s greatest danger.

Wong — no stranger to Malaysia’s culture wars — ended with a simple suggestion: the man should sue.

Then Came The Apology

About a day later, Kila posted a two-part apology on Threads.

“Looking back at it, yes, it was very harsh. Sorry guys.. im just a human, tak sempurna, and still learning to be a better person every single day,” she wrote.

She thanked followers who had privately advised her.

She called for a world “more compassionate and fair to all of Allah’s creations on this earth, baik manusia ataupun binatang.”

All love, no hate.

What she did not do: acknowledge that the man in the photo has never been formally identified, charged, or convicted of anything.

His face — and the pig-head edit — had already spread far enough that taking the posts down changed little.

The apology does not take them down.

View on Threads

The Apology Doesn’t Take It Down

Under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, posting content that is “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive” with intent to annoy or harm carries a fine of up to RM50,000 or up to one year in jail.

Sharing someone’s image to incite public hostility — before any investigation concludes — sits in deeply uncomfortable legal and ethical territory, regardless of how justified the anger feels.

The Rocky case has exposed two separate failures.

The first is institutional — questions about how the Royal Klang City Council (MBDK) conducted its operation, and whether proper procedures were followed.

The second is social — how quickly grief becomes a mob, how fast a face becomes a target, and how an apology for words can quietly sidestep accountability for actions.

Rocky deserved better.

So, arguably, does the man whose face spent 24 hours circulating before anyone thought to take it down.

READ MORE: How The Rocky Case Snowballed: Viral Outrage, Police Probe, Royal Statement

READ MORE: 50 Dogs Poisoned In One Month At Kajang Industrial Estate, Businessman Offers RM1,000 Reward To Find Culprit

READ MORE: Activist Firdaus Wong Deletes Waze Over Israel Ties, Gets Called Out For Still Using Facebook

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