Lfl Presses Pm Women Minister Cabinet On Statutory Rape Issue

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Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim or Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Nancy Shukri must now intervene to halt any attempt to penalise underage girls in statutory rape cases, said Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today.
In a statement, the NGO’s co-founder Latheefa Koya also called on the cabinet as a whole to react to the matter, and panned Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s reaction to Kelantan police chief Yusoff Mamat’s remark, which she labelled as “shocking” and “defensive”.
Earlier today, Saifuddin described Yusoff’s statement calling for the prosecution of underage girls in statutory rape cases as merely “his personal opinion” and urged the public not to sensationalise the matter.
According to Berita Harian, the minister said he was not in a position to comment on the issue, and that Yusoff had only made the remarks based on existing statistics.
ADSOn Sunday, Yusoff suggested that underage girls should also face charges for statutory rape, arguing that most cases of underage sexual intercourse were deemed as consensual.
“It’s nonsense to say that the Kelantan police chief, Yusoff Mamat’s call for underage girls to be charged in statutory rape cases is merely a personal opinion, as claimed by Home Minister Saifuddin,” Latheefa further said on her X account today.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail“Yusoff himself said that he would take up the matter with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Kelantan Islamic religious department. Hence, it was not just a personal opinion. He is working towards its implementation through inter-departmental discussions.
“Saifuddin should have got his facts right instead of making knee-jerk excuses for the outrageous intention of the police to charge underage girls.
“What is particularly shocking is the home minister’s defensive response to this disgraceful plan to prosecute underage girls for being raped. He fails to understand or acknowledge the seriousness of the matter, which has appalled all right-thinking Malaysians,” said the former MACC chief commissioner.
Desperate diversion attempt
Latheefa also took Saifuddin to task for criticising her and LFL for not speaking out on the bloody fracas at Kampung Sungai Baru, which left Dang Wangi district police chief Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman injured.
The human rights lawyer said Saifuddin’s criticism was a “desperate attempt” to divert attention from the core issue, as LFL is neither a governmental nor an enforcement body.
Kelantan police chief Yusoff Mamat“There’s no duty upon us to respond to every crime committed in the country. What happened to the police officer was a crime, and it is for the police to investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“To suddenly take aim at LFL over the Kampung Sungai Baru incident, which has nothing to do with the statutory rape issue, is a desperate attempt by Saifuddin to divert attention from the increasing public outrage over the underage girls issue.
“It is also dishonest for Saifuddin to slam LFL, but to keep quiet over his political ally Lim Guan Eng’s similar criticism of the police,” she added.
DAP national adviser Lim Guan Eng yesterday urged Yusoff to withdraw his suggestion, labelling it as “outrageous”.
Lim said the intention behind the law at present is to protect young girls from sexual exploitation due to their age, as they are not mature and knowledgeable enough to consent to sexual relationships.
Expressing similar sentiments, Latheefa yesterday also deemed the police’s suggestion as “beyond ridiculous”, highlighting the logic behind current laws on rape that do not criminalise female victims.
“It’s clear that no satisfactory answer can be expected from the home minister. Now, the PM, the women’s minister or the cabinet must put an end to this scandalous attempt to prosecute underage girls who are raped. Otherwise, we will soon become an international laughing stock,” she further said today. - Mkini

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