After body in gym bag, it's ZERO tolerance now
SIX rapes a day, that's the alarming state of the sex-crime situation in Malaysia.
And so the authorities are now gunning for zero tolerance towards sex crime offenders.
From January to July this year, there were 1,814 rape cases, compared with 1,362 during the same period last year - a 33per cent jump, reported The New Straits Times.
Most victims were students, said Federal CID director Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee.
These figures compare to 70 rape cases in Singapore from January to June this year (up from 53 during the same period last year).
The intense concern in Malaysia about sex crimes against children comes in the wake of the sexual abuse and murder of 7-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin.
Her body was found in a gym bag outside a Petaling Jaya bookshop on Monday.
Now, both the courts and the government have made strong statements on getting tougher on crime.
TOUGHER ON CRIMINALS
On Friday, a Sessions Court judge in Shah Alam sent a clear message - that there would be zero tolerance for crimes against children.
Judge Datin Zabariah Mohd Yusof sentenced Mohd Noor Annuar Othman, 28 - found guilty of abducting and raping a 12-year-old girl - to 19years in jail and fivestrokes of thecane.
Said Judge Zabariah: 'We read about how children are abducted and sexually assaulted. This is becoming rampant.
'The court has to send a strong message... by meting out a deterrentsentence.'
A similarly stern message was sent on Thursday, when the High Court increased the jail term for a 36-year-old security guard convicted of raping a girl of under 16 years, from an initial six years' jail to 18 years and 12 strokes of the cane, reported NST.
There are also plans by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to have convicted sexual abusers of children wear a chip and special bracelet after their release, for police to track their movements, reported The New Straits Times.
Meanwhile, a Sabah women's group is repeating its call for the death penalty against such offenders, reported The Star.
The chairman of the Sabah Women's Advisory Council, Datin Asnimar Sukardi, said that the 30-year jail term for rape was 'insufficient as a deterrent'.
'Let us... provide for harsher penalties if we want to prevent such heinous crimes,' she said.
The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry also vowed to get tougher on parents who neglect their children, reported The New Straits Times.
Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil said that in the past, her ministry had been reluctant to use the law against errant parents.
But, she told reporters on Friday: 'From now on, if we find out there is a family that wilfully neglects the children, we will bring them tocourt.'
COMMUNITY HELP
Child and family psychiatrist DrKasmini Kassim of Damansara Specialist Hospital in Petaling Jaya also suggested that neighbourhood shops be roped in to protect children, reported NST.
'There must be a system in place where children in danger will know that they can go to the nearest kedai runcit (provision shop) to seek help,' she said.
A new police division has been set up to handle sexual abuse cases, reported the Malaysian papers.
And it will soon have 101 civilian counsellors stationed nationwide.
The new unit, called the Sexual, Abuse and Child Investigation Division, comes under the Crime Investigation Department (CID).
The government also announced that the 999 number, usually used to call the police or emergency reponse teams, can now be used to report cases of sexual abuse.
source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...42792,00.html? 
Nurin's parents might be charged 
