KENINGAU COPS SEEK PARENTS HELP TO PREVENT RAPE OF UNDERAGE GIRLS
KENINGAU:
Rape cases will become more rampant in this district if the community, if parents do not play their role to help prevent the crime, said district police chief DSP Zahari Mohammad yesterday.
He said many of the rape cases reported to the police involved underage girls who have agreed to have sex with their boyfriends.
“The public, especially parents, need to understand that having sex with an underage girl is rape under the law,” he said during a monthly gathering at Keningau police headquarters on Tuesday. Zahari believed that some villagers and parents in the district do not know much about laws on rape.
“They think that rape is only when force is used on the victim. Some cases reported to the police last year involved girls below 16 years old. All have been settled,” he said.
Parents are urged to be more protective of their children, especially the underage ones, to prevent them from becoming rape victims.
He also proposed to the local community leaders such as village development and security committee chairmen and village headmen to inform their people about rape laws.
“I believe that would make villagers, especially parents, more aware of rape of underage girls,” he said.
There were fewer crime cases last year, he said, whereas 65 per cent of the cases had already been solved.
He attributed this to the cooperation of the community.
Zahari also presented appreciation letters to Sergeant Major Usik Makis, Lance Corporal Kipli Hajimi, Lance Corporal Windi Tanggok, and Lance Corporal Midi Ubi at the gathering.
