Kelantan and sexual crimes against children: no solution in sight

 PAS's 36-year rule has failed to address a sexual crimes crisis in the state, and children remain at risk without accountability.

From Norman Fernandez

In the 1950s, Kota Bahru, Kelantan, was infamously dubbed the “Paris of Malaya”. The moniker stemmed not from romance or fashion, but from a booming, widespread prostitution industry, just as Paris then was globally notorious for red-light districts.

PAS has been ruling Kelantan continuously for 36 years, maintaining an unbroken hold on the state government since it won the state election in October 1990. While Kota Bharu has very much been cleaned up of transactional commercial prostitution, Kelantan is now synonymous with sexual crimes against children.

The state is facing what can only be described as a sexual crimes pandemic. Some of the vilest offences against children have occurred here: a 15-year-old schoolgirl gang-raped by 38 men, including a father and his two sons; a father and his two sons raping his daughters; an 11-year-old boy impregnating his 15-year-old cousin and another girl; and two sisters, aged 13 and 14, alleging rape by their fathers, with one also claiming abuse by two of her uncles.

Hardly a week passes without reports of molestation, rape, incest, or sodomy in the news. Children as young as 10 have been assaulted in schools, tahfiz centres, hostels, homes, flood relief centres, and even in mosque toilets and storerooms.

The perpetrators have included teachers, wardens, family members, and frequently ustazs. No place seems safe, and predators can be anyone. What we are witnessing is a disturbing pattern.

PAS takes the high moral ground, its policies infused with religiosity; as such, it is difficult to fathom how, after 36 years of PAS Islamic governance, there is an implosion of sexual crimes against children.

Such crimes do occur elsewhere, but surely one does not expect them at this scale in a state that prides itself on being the “Corridor of Mecca”. As home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail once said, Kelantan’s population is 98% Malay Muslim and the state has its own shariah criminal code, yet it records the highest number of sexual crimes.

Former chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat voiced her concerns over the high number of sexual abuse cases involving children, while Kelantan police chief Yusoff Mamat highlighted surging sex crime cases, some resulting in pregnancies.

When confronted with statistics, the PAS government and its leader evade accountability by deflecting blame or minimising the severity of offences. They point fingers at parents for failing to supervise children, at social media for spreading pornography, and at Kelantan’s proximity to Thailand.

That is an easy way out, and very little is done to address the problem. Just hear the feeble response by Kelantan menteri besar Nassuruddin Daud, who said the state government has consistently played its part through educational programmes, but its efforts would remain ineffective if parents do not monitor their children.

For now, the courts remain the last bastion for victims. At least for the brave who report their abuse, while many suffer in silence and shame. In a recent case, Judicial commissioner S Kalyana Kumar said the court “considered the rampant number of sexual offences committed against young children by ruthless men, which has been reported almost daily in the newspapers. This cannot be ignored”.

And that “rape profoundly shakes the very foundation of a victim’s life, and that public interest demands that such offences be treated as among the gravest crimes against human dignity”.

As such, “society, as the ultimate guardian of decency, expects the courts to take a firm stance and avoid imposing unduly lenient sentences for such despicable crimes”.

The judge stressed: “Rape is a grave offence, especially when the victim is a child, and warrants no leniency, even if the offender pleads guilty.”

Until PAS acknowledges the problem and finds a solution, every child in Kelantan remains in harm’s way. - FMT

Norman Fernandez is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.