Malays less willing than non-Malays to accept child rape, says deputy minister

Question: Why is the incident of child rape more common among Malays?


Answer by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar in parliament: Because non-Malays are less sensitive and under report such cases.

He said this was because the majority of Muslim parents are unable to accept the idea of sex before marriage compared with non-Malay parents who are presumably less sensitive over the issue.

Wan Junaidi said statistics showed 80% or 1,147 of the 1,424 of statutory rape cases reported last year involved Malays. Statutory rape covers those aged below 16, regardless of whether it involved consensual sex.

In comparison, he said, Chinese accounted for 4.3% (62 victims), Indians accounted for 2% (32) while other races made up about 13% (183).

He said this was consistent with the numbers for 2012, whereby out of the 1,243 underage rape victims, Malays accounted for 80%, Chinese 5%, Indians 3% while other races accounted for 12%.

Wan Junaidi said the statistics for the Malay community were higher than that of the other races because they were more inclined to lodge reports of teenage sex, whereas non-Muslims were possibly less sensitive over the issue.

"This is because Muslim parents cannot accept sex before marriage or babies born out of wedlock as it is against Islamic teachings," he said in reply to a question from Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh (BN-Setiu) on underage rape cases.

He added that police investigations found that statutory rape cases were mostly caused by access to pornographic material available easily on the Internet.

He said other reasons for underage rape included young people being influenced by friends and also the urge to give sex a try.

Wan Junaidi said that although there was a reduction in the number of cases, it was still a worrying trend as young people aged between 13 and 16 accounted for 90% of underage rape victims.

To a question from Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PAS-Rantau Panjang) on whether weak enforcement was a factor, Wan Junaidi said parents were duty bound to ensure the safety of their children and not leave it to enforcement agencies. – March 18, 2014.