KUALA LUMPUR: Budget constraints and insufficient training for staff handling victims of child sex crimes are hampering the government’s efforts to ensure justice is done in these cases.
Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said the problems include faulty video equipment, which affects the ability to record witness statements from the victims.
This is in relation to the police force's Child Interview Centres (CIC) and court facilities for underage victims.
“The existing constraints on providing video recordings is that the CICs are not well-maintained, which have led to faulty audiovisual recording equipment. This is due to budget constraints
“Thus, the need to provide transcripts as per the law is not fully adhered to," he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
The CIC was established in all states following the formulation of the Evidence of Child Witness Act in 2007.
The centres were supposed to have facilities where police could record video statements from children, which would later be used in court.
Liew said most CIC interviewers also lack sufficient training to carry out an examination-in-chief (questioning of a witness for evidence) as they usually ask “leading questions” that are not allowed in court.
“Court facilities for children to testify under the Act are also lacking.
"These facilities are not provided because of budget constraints. There is no video link room, dividing screens, anatomical dolls and so on.
“There is also a lack of legal provisions or facilities to aid child witnesses who are disabled, those with speech impediments, deaf-mute, infants and so on," he said.
Liew was responding to a question by Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (BN-Pengerang), who asked on the challenges faced by prosecutors and judges in handling cases involving child sexual victims.
Other challenges faced by the government on cases relating to child sexual abuse include family members’ refusal to cooperate with the police if the case involved relatives, said Liew.
Liew, who is the de facto Law Minister, said familial pressure could lead to child victims withdrawing their cases, even if the cases were ready for trial. He said there were also instances of out-of-court settlements being made without the knowledge of prosecutors.
“Sometimes, the child victim sided with the accused, particularly in cases involving romance,” he said.
A total of 3,738 new cases of child sexual offences have been recorded since 2017, and 978 cases in 2019. From the total, 1,131 cases have been prosecuted with a conviction.
Issues concerning child sexual crimes came to the fore recently when a boy and his fellow students were allegedly sexually assaulted over a period of five months by their seniors at the Maahad Tahfiz al Barakah in Manjoi, Ipoh.
On Oct 14, two months after recognising that an offence did take place, the Ipoh Magistrate’s Court decided to dismiss the case.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas had denied ordering the case to be dismissed, saying that he had sent a letter to the court informing them that the provision used to instate a trial was not applicable.
This was because police had investigated the case and found insufficient evidence, leading them to classify the case as "no further action".