343 children involved in criminal activities in Perak since 2022, says exco member

IPOH: A total of 343 children in Perak have been involved in criminal activities from the year 2022 until June this year, says state Women, family, social welfare, cooperatives and entrepreneur development committee chairman Datuk Salbiah Mohamed.

She said according to the statistics provided by the Perak Community Welfare Department, there were a total of 158 cases reported in 2022, followed by 134 cases in 2023, and 51 cases until June 19 this year.

She said according to gender, a total of 314 cases involved boys, and 29 cases involved girls.

“The highest crime cases involving children include drugs (85 cases), human related crimes (84 cases), crime involving properties (76 cases), traffic (56 cases), gambling (8 cases), minor offences (3 cases), weapons (one case), offences under the Child Act (one case) and others (29 cases),” she said in her reply at the state assembly sitting here Tuesday (July 9).

She was replying to a question by Chaw Kam Foon (PH-Menglembu) who asked about the state government’s policy on child protection and safety.

He also wanted to know the statistics of children involved in criminal activities, and statistics on criminal acts on children including abuse, neglect and sexual violence.

Salbiah added that for cases of children who needed care and protection, there were a total of 1,189 cases recorded from the year 2022 until June this year.

She said in 2022 a total of 473 cases were reported, followed by another 473 cases reported last year, and 243 cases reported until June 19 this year.

“A total of 446 cases involved boys and 743 cases involving girls.

“Reports of children requiring care and protection according to the type of abuse recorded by the department include neglect (449 cases), sexual (303 cases), physical abuse (192 cases), others (188 cases), getting rid of a child (26 cases), and emotional stress (31 cases),” she added.

Salbiah said this year so far as many as 300 children protection advocacy programme series have been planned throughout the country including in Perak.

“These programmes aim to give exposure to children, parents, families and local communities about the actions they need to take if faced with the problem of abuse and child neglect,” she added.