Police: Worrying trend of juvenile crimes, underage sex in Penang

There is an alarming trend of juvenile crimes in Penang with 1,251 arrests made, including for rape offences, from July 2021 to November this year.

Penang police chief Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said those arrested were between 10 and 19 years old and comprised 86 percent or 1,078 males, while the rest were females.

Based on Penang’s contingent index crime statistics, 96 rape crimes were reported from July 2021 to last November with 77 arrests involving juveniles, reflecting that rape among minors is a concern.

“In fact, what worries police is that most of the rape cases are committed by suspects known to the victims, this indirectly gives the impression of consensual sex,” he said in George Town today, adding that underage sex seems to also be prevalent.

Shuhaily (above) was part of a panel at a townhall session at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) cultural hall discussing ‘Youth and Crime: Issues and Challenges’.

Also on the panel were motivational expert Mohamed Hanafiah Malek, USM Policy Research Centre and International Studies lecturer Abdul Rashid Mohamad and P Sudramoothy as the moderator of the discussion.

Commenting further, Shuhaily said the demographics of those involved in rape included teenagers from the B40 group.

“We are worried about the fate of the victims, the stigma in the community and what is the solution to this issue. We are concerned over the teenagers who dismiss it as a normal way of life and over time, can become proud of the number of boys they know (a social conquest),” he added.

Other factors

Meanwhile, he said factors such as a hostile environment, broken family institutions, socio-economic issues, level of education and a lack of religious conscience indirectly caused teenagers to be caught up in uncontrollable juvenile offences.

According to him, the age of teenagers involved indicates they are in the phase of growing up to adulthood and the transition from childhood creates an attitude of experimentation, in addition to undergoing physiological (hormonal rush), physical, social and emotional changes.

“That’s why they need to be guided so that they don’t go astray and fail to manage their lives well, this should not be taken for granted because teenagers are a pillar to the country’s leadership in the future,” he said.

- Bernama