Domestic violence cases on the rise in Sibu

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CRISIS HANDLING: (From second left) Dr Zul, Lau and others attending the quarterly OSCC meeting.

SIBU: The number of domestic violence cases is on the rise here with 21 cases recorded between January and February this year.

Dr Zul Imran Malek Abdol Hamid, who headed the Emergency and Trauma Department of Sibu General Hospital, said of the 31 violence cases reported, domestic violence topped the list.

Giving the racial background of these cases, he said 13 cases involved Chinese, Iban (13), Malay (2) and others (3).

“For the first two months of the year, domestic violence cases came out on top with 20 women being beaten while another case involved a man beaten by his spouse,” he said.

He said last year there were 90 cases related to husbands beating their wives while another 13 cases involved wives beating their husbands.

Giving the rest of this year’s statistics, Dr Zul revealed that there were six rape cases; child abuse cases (3) and sodomy case (1).

“Last year, there were 59 rape cases involving 17 adults and 42 minors, indicating an alarming rise among girls aged 16 and below,” he noted.

Child abuse came in third with 11 cases followed by one sodomy case.

The total number of cases recorded last year stood at 174.

He also said the abused victims with primary school education formed the bulk with 100 cases while 51 cases involved those with secondary school level education.

Dr Zul said there were eight cases involving those with tertiary education last year, adding that 11 cases involved uneducated persons while the level of education in another four cases was not known.

He said cases handled at One-Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) included domestic violence, child abuse, rape and sodomy.

Meanwhile, chairperson of Sibu OSCC Datin Janet Lau urged the public to be aware of such services offered and to report any violence and rape cases at OSCC located at all government hospitals.

“If the abused victims cannot come to the centre, he or she can call up the respective hospitals or police or Social Welfare Department to assist in lodging the report,” she advised.

For cases related to child abuse, any family members or guardians can lodge on the child’s behalf, she said.

She added that those who had been victimised and abused by family members, employers or unknown persons could lodge a report at OSCC at the Emergency and Trauma Department of Sibu General Hospital, police stations, Social Welfare office or Legal Aid office at Wisma Vashti.