DAP’s Kasthuri Patto was horrified to read about the incident, saying it was wrong for police to remand a child in a lock-up with other suspects in the first place.
“As the nation is focused on the spiralling number of Covid-19 cases, incidents of sexual violations tend to fall through the cracks as communities are more concerned about the vaccine programme,” the Batu Kawan MP said in a statement today.
She welcomed the assurance by the Sarawak police chief for suspending the two policemen on duty and promising to conduct an in-depth investigation into the incident.
The case, highlighted by DAP senator Alan Ling, allegedly took place on Jan 9 between 4am and 5am, a day after the teenager was picked up in a gambling raid.
Kasthuri said police should have known in the first place that it was in their SOP that children are not allowed to be detained in a police lock-up.
“Secondly, how did the rapist manage to get access to the victim and to have forced himself on her? Didn’t the officer on duty notice that one person was missing from his cell?
“Did they not hear any sound at that time? Were there CCTVs in the lockups after authorities had pledged time and again that all police lockups will be equipped with functioning CCTVs?” she asked.
Kasthuri said it would be impossible for Bukit Aman or the state police authorities to carry out fair and independent probes in the absence of CCTVs as promised.
She said the greatest horror that can happen during a pandemic is when vulnerable groups, especially children and women, are violated by those who were supposed to safeguard them.
Kasthuri said the rape of a minor held in a police lock-up should have actually rocked the nation.
“This incident underlines the urgent need for an Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC),” she said, adding that Malaysia was moving away from being a progressive, just and fair nation with such incidents.
“If heads do not roll, then we can conclude that the government has failed to safeguard the life of a child, a 16-year-old girl who was raped by the very people who should have been her protectors.”
Meanwhile, Eliminating Deaths & Abuse In Custody Together (EDICT) said police had violated the Child Act 2001, which mandates that a female juvenile detained in a lockup shall be cared for by at least one woman officer.
“However, in this case, according to the report made by the victim, the cell she occupied was not taken care of and could even be opened by other detainees,” the group said in a statement.
“If this situation is true, then the police must be held accountable for negligence and misconduct against the victim as well as disobeying the instructions contained in the act. There is also no need for the police to detain a minor for a long period of time.”
EDICT said the government’s delay in implementing the IPCMC had clearly affected the credibility and integrity of the police force.
“It is a shame that such an incident happened in a place that was supposed to be the safest place for the public and detainees,” it added.