Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said he will have to verify claims that the alleged rapist of an underage former female detainee of a detention centre in Papar has been arrested and released on bail."I will check with Papar Police Chief DSP Bartholomew Umpit whether it is true," he said when contacted Saturday.A highly placed source claimed that the suspect was arrested on Friday and released on police bail 24 hours later.
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Omar confirmed that a police report had been lodged by the victim's aunt pertaining to the incident.The 14-year-old victim is alleged to have been raped by one of the guards during her detention at the centre in May this year, five days before she was deported to the Philippines.
A police report was lodged by her aunt who, however, on Friday said she had retracted it out of pressure and fear.The alleged rapist was named in the report.
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The National Security Council (NSC) has established an internal committee to investigate the case.Meanwhile, Sabah Women's Action-Resource Group (Sawo) claimed that allegations of sexual harassment against female detainees by guards in temporary detention centres are "rampant".
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The group said in view of this, it is concerned about the safety of children in detention centres run by Malaysian authorities, particularly those for undocumented individuals."Allegations of sexual harassment by guards while in detention are apparently rampant," the group said in a statement in response to a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by a guard while in detention in Papar."Sawo is concerned about the safety of children in detention centres run by Malaysian authorities, particularly temporary detention centres for undocumented individuals such as the one in Papar," it added.It said that although there are no statistics on how many such cases, one case is already outrageous and bad enough. "We commend the National Security Council (NSC) for establishing an internal committee to investigate the allegation with the objective of bringing the culprit to justice. "We must reiterate that what occurred was statutory rape because the currently pregnant girl child was below the age of 16 when the sexual assault occurred," it said.Sawo also said it is also concerned and alarmed that police officers had allegedly pressured the rape survivor to withdraw her report. "All parties should take note that in a detention centre, there is a huge power differential between guards and girl child detainees. "A deterrent sentence must be handed to the culprit identified by DNA test to reinforce the abuse of public trust when a guard committed statutory rape on a girl detainee," the group demanded. Sawo said authorities should take cognisant of the fact that: 1. Malaysian authorities have a duty of care to detained individuals, particularly children and women. Detainees have a right to be safe in detention. Assaults including rape by guards in detention centres should never have occurred. 2. Children, including undocumented children are covered by the Child Rights Convention, which Malaysia is a signatory. All children, including undocumented children, have rights, which include being safe from sexual assaults. 3. The currently pregnant girl child should be supported with counselling and provided with other suitable support.
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4. Detention and repatriation of undocumented women and children should not harm the safety of these vulnerable individuals. Extra precaution should be taken to ensure children's rights and safety are fully protected at all times. Children are particularly vulnerable because of their minor status. -Jeremy S Zabala
