Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said police investigated 89 caretakers, followed by 78 each for parents and teachers, 69 step-parents, 56 students, and 17 neighbours.

“The majority of the suspects were caretakers. Maybe they were untrained and some of them took care of too many children at the same time,” he said, adding that a further study is needed to confirm the reasons.

He said children aged one and below were involved in 139 cases, placing them at the top of the list by age, followed by children aged two to five, with 96 cases.

Earlier, Hussein launched the second child interview centre in Selangor, located at Section 11 here. The other centre is in Section 7.

The new centre deals with cases from Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Sabak Bernam, Kuala Langat, Sungai Buloh, Sepang and Serdang.

He noted that the number of child abuse cases has risen every year, partly due to increasing public awareness prompting the people to lodge reports.