A TOTAL of 7,727 investigation papers have been opened on sexual offences against children between 2018 and May this year, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said out of the total, 4,223 were charged in court.
In a parliamentary reply, Azalina said 1,550 cases were classified as NFA (No Further Action), while 1,954 cases were still under investigation.
The minister was responding to Syerleena Abdul Rashid (PH-Bukit Bendera), who asked for the number of sexual crime cases against children that were under investigation, classified as NFA or complaints retracted.
According to the Federal Court’s chief registrar’s office statistics, 14,042 such cases were registered in court between 2018 and 2023.
There were 2,179 cases in 2017 followed by 1,799 (2019); 1,869 (2020); 2,832 (2021); 2,818 (2022) and 2,545 cases last year.
The Social Welfare Department handled 2,959 cases involving physical, sexual and emotional abuse between January and May 2023, the highest being in Selangor with 647 cases, followed by Sabah (333) and Kuala Lumpur (326).
A report by the Statistics Department showed a 9.5% jump in sexual crimes to 1,621 in 2022 from 1,481 in 2021.
According to the report, all categories saw an increase, except for sexual harassment and molestation cases, which dropped by 20.5% and 63.3% respectively.
Bukit Aman CID Sexual, Women and Children Crime Investigation Division (D11) principal assistant director Senior Asst Comm Siti Kamsiah Hassan said in an interview with The Star on April 8, that 912 sexual crime cases were recorded last year involving suspects aged below 18.
These included 601 rape cases, outraging modesty (17), unnatural sex (18), sexual harassment (23) and distribution or possession of obscene materials (three).
