New facility: Comm Hussein cuts a ribbon at the launch of a new hall at the Seri Kembangan police station.
SERDANG: A rise in sexual cases involving those who are underage is a cause for concern and could possibly be due to a lack of knowledge of the law among the people, says the state’s top cop.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the last four months of the year saw around 155 such cases including statutory rape, with most of the victims being female students.
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While no direct statistics were shared, he noted that the number was higher than the corresponding period last year.
Of the reported cases, 33 suspects were still students themselves, he added.
He revealed this while speaking to the media after launching the Seri Kembangan police station hall here yesterday.
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Asked about the reasons for the high statistics, Comm Hussein said a lack of knowledge regarding statutory rape laws could be a contributing factor.
“In some cases of ‘suka sama suka’ (consensual relations), it was possible that the suspects did not know that statutory rape is a big offence. The poor understanding of the country’s laws could contribute to cases such as these.
“If the victim is below 18, it is an offence regardless of consent,” he said, adding that reports were generally lodged by the victim’s parents, guardians or teachers once they find out.
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Comm Hussein said some cases involved people who had only known each other for days and the youngest victim identified was only 13 years old.
“We also believe that this increase in sexual cases is due to social media and the easy access to pornography online,” he said.
He warned that the unsupervised use of social media applications could lead to unwanted incidents such as these.
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“What I am worried about are these students that are below 18 who are then sentenced to prison for years and years.
“The victim, too, even if it was consensual, their future could be affected due to mental and physical health issues,” he said.
While more public engagements at schools can be conducted, Comm Hussein said efforts must also come from the parents themselves to ensure their children remain safe.
