KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has today denied that there are new rape cases involving Penan women, as revealed in a report by Penan Support Group (PSG) last week. Its deputy minister Heng Seai Kei said this was based on a dialogue conducted between minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and the village heads yesterday and also on police record.
PSG last week released a report “A Wider Context of Sexual Exploitation of Penan Women and Girls in Middle and Ulu Baram, Sarawak, Malaysia”, which was presented to Parliament.
The report revealed that there were at least seven new rape cases, which indicates the exploitation of the indigenous community was more widespread than was previously thought.
However, Heng said that no official complaints have been made on the alleged incidents.
“Although the report was released by the PSG, the village head has denied there were any new rape cases. The police, too, have not received any official complaints,” he added.
Despite all this, Heng said the ministry will not treat the matter lightly.
“We are still concerned... Protecting women and children is important. If it really happened, we must take steps to ensure it will not recur,” she said.
Government assistance
Heng, however, was displeased with the public and the opposition for “accusing” the government of doing nothing to tackle the issue.
“We are very disappointed because the prime minister (Najib Tun Razak) has announced that he will visit Baram. Shahrizat has also gone there yesterday to have a closer look at the situation,” she said.
Besides, she said the government has made every effort to help the victims.
“The ministry has gone there to teach them to defend themselves from sexual harassment... ”
“Also, the Home Ministry has registered the births of the children so that they can attend schools. We have also allocated a site for 12,000 Penan people to resettle,” she said.
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