Victims of statutory rape need specialist support, not jail time

 

A 17-year-old victim of statutory rape in Kemaman, Terengganu, is going through a harrowing ordeal.

Instead of being given support and specialist help for her trauma, she is being victimised twice over, first by her rapist and a second time by the system.

The girl was raped when she was 14, a minor. She is also a victim of sexual exploitation by her then 22-year-old boyfriend. In 2022, she was charged with the murder of her newborn baby and placed in a welfare home while awaiting trial.

She ought to be placed under specialist care, but she faced a further devastating impact on her mental health, with a long wait for her trial.

It is not just the girl who suffers, but also her family because her mother was denied access to her own daughter in the welfare home.

How many other young girls in Malaysia face the same vulnerabilities?

If that was not bad enough, we do not know if her rapist boyfriend has been caught. It has been two years since the police investigation started.

Has the rapist escaped to a neighbouring state or country? Is he protected by close family and friends? How serious are the police in finding a rapist who could put other girls at risk?

In 2022, his rape victim was denied bail after being arrested for stabbing her newborn baby to death with a sharp object in her own home at Felcra Sri Bandi in Chukai, Kemaman.

She was remanded for seven days as part of the police investigation, and tentatively charged with murder, a charge that carries the death penalty on conviction.

She was denied bail because the law stipulates that murder is a non-bailable offence, and bail could only be granted at the discretion of the court.

Her legal team submitted the application for bail with the exceptions available under the Criminal Procedure Code if the accused person is either sick, a minor or a female.

Two months later, the Court of Appeal allowed her to be released on bail.

After a two-year ordeal, the girl, now 17, pleaded guilty on Feb 13 to the infanticide of her newborn son. Pleading guilty to that charge meant that she avoided the death penalty of the previous murder charge.

The offence of infanticide carries a punishment of a maximum of 20 years’ jail and a fine. She was allowed bail pending sentencing to be held on May 9. Meanwhile, a behaviour report will be prepared for sentencing.

There are many disturbing points about this young girl’s story. Her future was destroyed when she was raped, and now she is being punished in a high-profile public interest case in the courts.

After a brief period in the hospital for psychiatric evaluation, she was then transferred to a welfare home, where her own mother was denied access to her.

She was 14 when she was raped by the boyfriend who was 8 years older than her. She gave birth to her baby at the age of 15.

Did she not know she was being sexually exploited by her boyfriend? Did the boyfriend rape her even though she said “No”?

Perhaps the education ministry should resume sex education lessons in schools to educate, inform and protect young girls and boys from sexual predators.

Was she afraid of telling her parents about what had happened because of the social stigma, isolation and humiliation involved?

As our young children currently do not receive sex education at school, perhaps the rape victim did not know she could become pregnant because no one had told her a child could be conceived after having sex?

Had she blanked out all memory of the rape, giving birth would have rekindled the trauma, the violation of her body and her feelings of hate for the rapist. Could this have triggered the stabbing incident?

To deny the victim access to her own mother is cruel. Only her own family members know her best. The welfare home is no substitute for her mother’s love or her family’s support.

When will ministers take the time and trouble to understand the meaning of statutory rape? Are they aware of the mental and physical trauma suffered by the victim, and her family?

The Penal Code states that sex with a person who is under 16, with or without her consent, is considered statutory rape.

The victim of rape who brings up her child conceived in rape probably knows that without education or skills, she is condemned to a bleak future.

This case also demonstrates how sex education is vital to protect young girls and boys. Contrary to the opinions of some, sex education is not about how to have free sex.

Sex education discusses the dangers of having sex at an early age, the consequences of having unprotected sex, how to say “No!” and how to avoid peer pressure and most important of all, the importance of stable, loving relationships.

This teenager is a victim and needs support, not jail. - FMT

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