KOTA KINABALU – Children who are victims of abuse in rural districts of Sabah have been forced to travel hundreds of miles to Kota Kinabalu just to get justice over their predicaments
This is because abuse cases involving children aged 12 and below that require their statements to be taken must be recorded in person at the Child Interview Centre (CIC), which in Sabah is only available in Kota Kinabalu.
A mother whose 7-year-old daughter was allegedly molested by a relative in Sabah’s east coast district told The Vibes that it took a lot of courage to bring herself to lodge a police report, as she was constantly persuaded by her relatives not to take the matter to the authorities.
She then decided to lodge a report in a police station in the district without the knowledge of her relatives.
However, after lodging the report, she was told that she needed to go to Kota Kinabalu’s CIC to have her daughter’s statement recorded. The office is about 200 km away.
“I thought to myself that I was already doing this without the knowledge of my relatives. Now that I had to go to Kota Kinabalu, they would find out that I was reporting this case to police.
“But I was determined to get justice for my child. So, I took the bus with my daughter the very next day,” she said.
The mother said that she was lucky she had savings that she could use to fund the journey, but she could not imagine how those without the financial capabilities to do so and facing similar abuse problems would be able to do the same.
Meanwhile, another mother of a sexual abuse victim told The Vibes that the investigating officers in charge of her case offered to fund for her transportation and hotel charges in Kota Kinabalu.
She said that police were very accommodating to her needs, and it was apparent that the police officials were forking out funds from their own pockets to help people like her.
She also said that all police personnel involved with her case were very helpful, and had guided her from the start, explaining the procedures that she was expected to go through.
However, these altruistic acts by the officials do not wipe out the fact that victims in the state have been given the runaround to seek justice.
All statements from children who are victims or witnesses to active criminal cases need to be recorded at the CIC. There is one CIC in each state nationwide.
Improve CIC’s infrastructure, functions
The Vibes has also reliably learned that earlier this year a CIC team, which included specialists, had gone to Sandakan to record statements from victims from places in Sabah’s east coast districts such as Tawau, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Beluran and Kinabatangan.
Meanwhile, Jollify Daniel, an executive council member of Sabah Women’s Action Resource Group (Sawo), told The Vibes that the organisation’s activists have encountered victims in rural districts who face similar problems due to the lack of CIC facilities in Sabah’s rural districts, particularly in the eastern side.
She said that many mothers of child victims find it difficult to bring such cases to court because it would involve many processes that they are not able to understand and do not have the means to undertake.
They also see it as something that would bring shame to the family.
“There are instances where we had to persuade the victims’ mothers to be courageous in taking their cases, particularly sexual and physical abuse cases, to police. So, yes, we do find that having only one CIC in Sabah is making it harder for the victims,” she said.
Another Sawo executive council member, Doreen Kissey, said that while there is a need to set up more CIC bases in Sabah, the CIC itself must also function satisfactorily.
“The authority also needs to ensure the staff working at the centre are able to carry out their tasks professionally. There should be a sufficient budget for equipping this CIC and for ongoing training of staff,” she said.
Recently, there has been talk about plans to set up CIC offices in Tawau and Sandakan.
However, The Vibes has yet to receive confirmation from Sabah police commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah on the matter at the point of writing.
Kota Kinabalu is about 450km from Tawau and 330km from Sandakan. – The Vibes, June 18, 2022
