Women Ministry Zeroes In On Police Probe Of Teen Girl

---

 


The Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry has weighed in on authorities’ apparent failure to protect the rights of a child.
This is concerning the recent arrest and detention of a teenage girl in Pasir Gudang, Johor, for alleged indecent behaviour with a 22-year-old man.
Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Nancy Shukri said the authorities should do better in handling cases involving young offenders.
Her deputy, Aiman Athirah Sabu, argued that the detainment of minors should remain as a last resort.
The teenager was arrested and allegedly “paraded” before the press during a remand process.
If an arrest must be made, Aiman asserted that the police must fully consider the interests of the child.
Women, Family, and Community Development Deputy Minister Aiman Athirah SabuCiting Section 83A of the Child Act 2001, she stressed that minors must not be handcuffed and they must also be separated from adults while being detained in the police station.
“It’s sufficient for them to be warned for minor offences.
“According to the same act and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the identity of the child must also be protected and not revealed, and the child has the right to consult a lawyer of their choice,” she told Malaysiakini.
Aiman also expressed disappointment, saying the rights of minors who break the law tend to be ignored and dismissed once arrests are made.
Seeking improvement
Nancy said she will work with the authorities to initiate necessary reforms.
“I will speak personally to the IGP (inspector-general of police), Home Minister (Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) as well as the Criminal Investigation Department’s Sexual, Women, and Child Investigations Division to see how we can all work as a team to improve the matter,” she said when contacted yesterday.
As the investigation of the case is underway, Nancy declined further comments, saying they will “await the results from the police”.
At the same time, she also advised the public as well as the media to be more cautious when sharing information, especially pertaining to minors and children in trouble with the law.
While Seri Alam district police chief Mohd Sohaimi Ishak denied “parading” the teenager in handcuffs, some raised concerns over the welfare of the teenager following heavy press attention and police conduct.
In a press release yesterday, Muda human rights bureau chief Dobby Chew said the treatment the teenager received during her remand process had allowed photographs of her to be proliferated without regard to her welfare and rights under the Child Act.
Muda human rights bureau chief Dobby Chew“Police mistakes and misconduct would likely inflict long-term harm upon those involved and the police must acknowledge their roles and responsibilities in these situations, and be held accountable for any harm caused,” Chew said in a statement.
The couple were detained on Thursday (April 6) over a video clip shared online which depicted them in a compromising position in a car at a parking lot in Johor.
They spent a night in detention and the police obtained a two-day remand order to probe them under Section 377D of the Penal Code for “gross indecency”.
The couple has been released and sought help from Tebrau MP and lawyer Jimmy Puah, claiming people posing as police personnel accosted them. - Mkini

---