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CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said they would investigate the latest allegation.
“Up to now, Sarawak police have not received any official police report. We call on all those in the know to assist the investigations,” he said.
Comm Mohd Bakri added that previous rape allegations were also investigated, with two out of three investigation papers returned by the Attorney-General’s Chambers with a directive for no further action to be taken.
He also said one more investigation paper was still with the A-G’s Chambers pending further instructions.
In KUCHING, Baram MP Datuk Jacob Sagan said authorities must ensure that no further Penan teenagers and women were raped.
He said the Penans, who live in the interior areas, sometimes had to rely for a lift from others.
“We do not know what may go on during these journeys. We’re not accusing anyone in particular but this matter must be fully investigated,” he said.
Earlier, speaking at the launch of the report attended by some 50 Opposition MPs, NGO representatives, the Malaysian Bar and embassies in Parliament House yesterday, Liu said the fact-finding mission visited one Kenyah and three Penan communities.
“Their cases revealed patterns of violence and harassment, abduction, rape, physical assault, emotional abuse, coercion into marriage and desertion upon pregnancy,” Liu said.
PKR MP Zuraida Kamaruddin said she would raise an emergency motion on Monday, seeking for a Royal Commission to be set up to look into the cases and other issues related to sexual exploitation.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil told Parliament in October last year that a committee set up by the ministry to investigate the claims had concluded that abuses did take place, although the number of victims was not known.
KUALA LUMPUR: More Penan women have come forward with claims of being sexually abused and the police have promised to investigate the latest allegations.
The Penan Support Group, made up of 36 non-governmental organisations, has released its latest report that reveals the testimony of seven more Penan females who have claimed they were raped or sexually abused.
“We were motivated to document new evidence in the light of repeated refusals by Sarawak government leaders to acknowledge that Penan girls were sexually abused by timber workers,” Suara Rakyat Malaysia documentation and monitoring coordinator John Liu said.
He said the report titled “A Wider Context of Sexual Exploitation of Penan Women and Girls in Middle and Ulu Baram, Sarawak” was the outcome of a fact-finding mission by the NGOs in November last year.
The Penan Support Group, made up of 36 non-governmental organisations, has released its latest report that reveals the testimony of seven more Penan females who have claimed they were raped or sexually abused.
“We were motivated to document new evidence in the light of repeated refusals by Sarawak government leaders to acknowledge that Penan girls were sexually abused by timber workers,” Suara Rakyat Malaysia documentation and monitoring coordinator John Liu said.
He said the report titled “A Wider Context of Sexual Exploitation of Penan Women and Girls in Middle and Ulu Baram, Sarawak” was the outcome of a fact-finding mission by the NGOs in November last year.
CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said they would investigate the latest allegation.
“Up to now, Sarawak police have not received any official police report. We call on all those in the know to assist the investigations,” he said.
Comm Mohd Bakri added that previous rape allegations were also investigated, with two out of three investigation papers returned by the Attorney-General’s Chambers with a directive for no further action to be taken.
He also said one more investigation paper was still with the A-G’s Chambers pending further instructions.
In KUCHING, Baram MP Datuk Jacob Sagan said authorities must ensure that no further Penan teenagers and women were raped.
He said the Penans, who live in the interior areas, sometimes had to rely for a lift from others.
“We do not know what may go on during these journeys. We’re not accusing anyone in particular but this matter must be fully investigated,” he said.
Earlier, speaking at the launch of the report attended by some 50 Opposition MPs, NGO representatives, the Malaysian Bar and embassies in Parliament House yesterday, Liu said the fact-finding mission visited one Kenyah and three Penan communities.
“Their cases revealed patterns of violence and harassment, abduction, rape, physical assault, emotional abuse, coercion into marriage and desertion upon pregnancy,” Liu said.
PKR MP Zuraida Kamaruddin said she would raise an emergency motion on Monday, seeking for a Royal Commission to be set up to look into the cases and other issues related to sexual exploitation.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil told Parliament in October last year that a committee set up by the ministry to investigate the claims had concluded that abuses did take place, although the number of victims was not known.
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