TUCKED in the hilly interior of Tebedu, a border town in Serian, Sarawak, is a hamlet populated by villagers eking out a living in pepper farms.
On the arch of the concrete entrance, the native-language greeting “Welcome to the village, hope to see you again” speaks to visitors to this small settlement 20km from Tebedu.
The usually intimate and quiet village was shocked by a surprise visit from the police last Friday to arrest four members of a family.
The four men, all farmers, were sought for allegedly raping two family members. The victims are granddaughters, daughters and nieces to the suspects.
Police got wind of the case after they were notified by Serian Hospital of a teenage pregnancy involving a 19-year-old, who is one of the victims.
The teenager went to check her bulging stomach at a health clinic in Tebedu, only to be told she was 25 weeks pregnant. She then confided to doctors her predicament that started since she was 13, a year before she stopped schooling.
She also claimed her younger sister, who is now 14 and a school dropout, had gone through the same ordeal.
Both victims were staying in the same house as their single father and the three other suspects.
Two months ago, a 72-year-old grandfather, his 40-year-old son, and three grandnephews aged between 16 and 21 were arrested for alleged rape and incest in Limbang.
The incident had apparently been going on for seven months since November last year.
In between these two cases, a 36-year-old man was slapped with more than 600 charges of sodomising and raping his 12-year-old daughter at the Special Court for Sexual Crimes Against Children in Putrajaya.
These cases sent shock waves through the country.
Sarawak Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah was one of many disgusted by these sexual crimes.
“Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi”, she quipped, saying that these men, who had been entrusted to look after their kin, had betrayed that trust and failed their responsibility to God.
“As their guardians, they are supposed to protect the victims, not make them objects of their lust,” Fatimah lamented.
Sexual violence against children has increased significantly in the first four months of the year compared with the corresponding period last year.
It was reported that Sarawak recorded 251 cases of sexual assault against children between January and April this year, a 41.81 per cent increase compared with 177 cases in the same period last year.
The number of sexual crimes involving children and teenagers also contributed to the high number of teenage pregnancies in the state.
Sarawak recorded the highest number of teenage pregnancies last year — 12,482 cases — despite a decline compared with previous years.
Kuching recorded 516 cases, the highest among 12 divisions.
All this begs the question: are we doing enough to address this problem?
The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry had carried out initiatives, including amendments to the Child Act and the Sexual Offences against Children Bill.
The Communications and Multimedia Ministry is increasing awareness about sexual crimes against children by empowering the victims to speak up instead of suffering in silence.
In the Tebedu case, the victim only knew she was “sexually assaulted” when she was brought to the clinic.
What is equally important is ensuring children, especially those in the interior, finish their schooling.
They need to be taught what is right and wrong, and what to do when confronted with sex predators, especially if the perpetrators are family members or people they know.
As cliched as this may sound, knowledge is power.
**The writer, born in Kuala Lumpur, raised in Perak, is NST Sarawak bureau chief. A nature lover, he never tires of discovering new sights in the Land of the Hornbills.