Rise in rape cases involving minors, say cops

Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director Shuhaily Zain says most cases of rape involving minors are linked to low-income households.

KUALA LUMPUR: Cases of rape involving minors have been consistently on the rise in the past few years, says Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director Shuhaily Zain, who blames the phenomenon on an increased access to pornography on social media.

He cited the gang rape of a nine-year-old by other nine-year-olds in Kelantan last year, a case which he said police were unable to pursue as all of the suspects were below 10 years of age, making them exempt from criminal charges.

“The suspects were all nine years old and it was ‘consensual’. But it was statutory rape,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the International Regulatory Conference 2024 here.

Shuhaily said the girl apparently consented to sex with the suspects because she had broken an eraser and was unable to buy the offended party a new one.

“She didn’t have the money to buy a new eraser. She offered to pay for it (with sex).

“There was no case, actually, because there are no criminal liabilities for any person below the age of 10. But we opened an investigation paper (anyway),” he said.

Adding that the reported cases might be only the tip of the iceberg, Shuhaily said most of them involved low-income households.

He attributed them in large part to a lack of parental supervision and easy access to pornography online.

“Even young girls know how to do these things now. So (the nine-year-old) offered her own body to pay for (the eraser),” he said.