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Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director Shuhaily Zain said corrective measures are necessary to tackle children’s mental health, which is something all stakeholders must scrutinise.
“The latest case involving a five-year-old kid worries me. He wasn’t abused or forced, but willingly committed (the act), so this is not about physical sickness, but related to mental health.
“The hospital’s expertise is needed to help find a remedy for such situations. I fear for the future generation,” he said during a visit to the hospital this morning.
Last week, Bukit Aman sexual, women, and child investigation division deputy director Siti Kamsiah Hassan said a five-year-old boy had harassed his twin sibling after watching his mother have sexual intercourse with her boyfriend.
She also said statistics show that 70% of sexual crime victims are children between the ages of 13 and 18.
Early this month, Shuhaily cited the gang rape of a nine-year-old girl by other nine-year-olds in Kelantan last year, saying police were unable to pursue the case as all of the suspects were below 10 years old, making them exempt from criminal charges.
Investigations revealed the victim had spoilt an eraser and, having no money to buy a new one, offered to pay the other children involved with sex.
Shuhaily said that while the incident was “consensual”, it was statutory rape, and blamed the rise of rape involving minors on increased and easy access to pornography on the internet.
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