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Published: Saturday November 14, 2009 MYT 4:38:00 PM

Penan girls' rape probe goes nowhere

By STEPHEN THEN


MIRI: The saga surrounding the sexual abuse of Penan girls and women by timber workers in logging concession areas in northern Sarawak has reached a dead end.

More than a year ago, the issue was exposed by the Switzerland-based Bruno Manser Foundation.

It was then highlighted by The Star and confirmed by the Ministry of Women and Family Development Ministry following a ministerial probe.

The police have since gone nowhere with its investigations, nobody has been arrested and nobody has been prosecuted.

And now, the Sarawak police have confirmed that they will no longer investigate the alleged rapes any further after Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar issued a statement saying the police considered the matter closed.

On Thursday, Ismail said in Kuching that the police had done all they could, but the probe had gone nowhere due to lack of evidence and lack of cooperation from the alleged victims and from the non-governmental organisation that had exposed the alleged rapes.

“We did not push the issue away nor did we try to hide anything. We were very open about the investigations and have cooperated with the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as Datuk Seri Shahrizat’s (Abdul Jalil) ministry to uncover the truth,” he said.

When asked Saturday if the Sarawak police would reopen the case if there was new evidence, Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh said: “I will not talk about this Penan issue anymore’’.

The alleged rapes of the Penans in logging zones in ulu Baram surfaced in the middle of last year after the Swiss-based Bruno Manser Foundation highlighted the issue on their website.

The Star then sent a reporter and photographer to ulu Baram and interviewed some of the rape victims who confirmed that they had been raped and sexually-abused.

Shahrizat’s ministry later deployed its own team of officers into ulu Baram to probe the matter and three months ago, tabled a report confirming that the rapes of Penan girls and women had indeed occurred.

However, a few days later, one of the Penan woman made an about-turn.

The 22-year old Penan woman from the Long Item settlement lodged two police reports, in Long Lama and in Marudi, claiming an NGO had forced her to say that she was raped by the loggers.

She claimed they had duped her into going to Kuala Lumpur, confined her for three months and then forced to lodge a police report at Bukit Aman crying rape.

She further claimed the NGO and reporters had told her they could help her get medical treatment for her sick child in Kuala Lumpur if she followed them.

On Saturday, The Star called Marudi police chief Deputy Supt Jonathan Jalin for an update on her report but he declined to comment, saying he was outstation.

It is learnt however that the probe on the woman’s report has also reached a dead-end as police have failed to trace the people from the NGO concerned.

Related Stories:
Ministry to give Penan Task Force report details to Sarawak government
Penan woman: I was not raped
Council: Teach Penan girls their rights on sexual abuse
Measures needed to prevent Penan girls’ rape
Sarawak teachers propose transport for Penan pupils
Bar Council: Govt must act on reports of Penan girls being raped
Penan rape: We’re not to blame, says timber industry
Cops are doing their best in sex crime investigations, says minister

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