Cops: Child marriage case papers handed to AGC

The police today confirmed that it has handed the investigation papers regarding the child marriage case to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Bukit Aman's Child Investigation Unit head, DSP Saroja Egamparam, today confirmed at the law conference that the papers regarding the case had been submitted. The unit is part of the Sexual, Women and Child Investigations division.

Saroja had been asked about the status of the investigation into the case. However, she declined to comment beyond affirming that the case had been referred to the AG’s Chambers.

On Monday, attorney-general Tommy Thomas had said his chambers had just receivedthe police investigation papers regarding the case, that day.

Meanwhile, former de facto law minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said who is also a panel member in the forum with Saroja, said the authorities can take action against the man under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

She said the current law is sufficient to handle the matter to punish such offenders.

Both of them were speaking on the topic “Child sexual images: Effects on Corporations”.

Saroja (photo) also noted that 80 percent of child sexual abuse cases involve incest and this causes a slight problem.

Low conviction rate

She acknowledged that the conviction rate in such cases may be low and that this is due to various factors such as when the cases come to court and the victim being pressured by family members.

Unicef representative to Malaysia, Marianne Clark-Hattingh, said the low conviction rate is not unique to Malaysia but is the same throughout the world.

Azalina meanwhile cautioned parents against taking pictures of their children and posting them on social media. She said she had noticed it had become a Malaysian fad, and that many parents were not aware of the potential risks to the child, that result from such exposure.

"Sometimes relatives are responsible for this and they should curb themselves and think of the child’s safety. It is not proper to take pictures of children only wearing diapers and posting them (online) as we do not know (who will see these images)," she warned.

The former minister also wants telephone companies to help curb the download of offensive content involving children.

She said, so far, she knows only Digi has undertaken such a commitment and urges other telcos to follow suit. -Mkini