CHILD ABUSE IN MALAYSIA INCLUDES INDIAN CHILDREN

Children of Indian ethnic origin in Malaysia are one of the most abused in the country, a top official has told the parliament. There were 248 incidents of Indian children involved in abuse cases reported to the country’s Welfare Department last year, Chew Mei Fun, Parliamentary Secretary to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, told the parliament. The majority of abuse cases involved Malay children (1,378), said the Parliamentary Secretary. She said in 2005, Malay children accounted for 1,116 abuse cases followed by Indians (263), Chinese (245). Factors cited for the abuse included indiscipline at school, sex, negligence, emotional stress and that the suspect was drunk at the time. They were part of the 1,999 child abuse cases reported to the department last year compared with 1,800 cases in 2005, she was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama here. She said 173 child abuse cases had already been reported by April this year. Chew said that as a short-term measure, abused victims would be sent to children’s homes for three years until they reach 18 years.