Police: Parent negligence linked to high sexual offences

Inspector Pillay says victims also getting bolder to report offences, resulting in the rising number of cases.

The increasing number of sexual offences is alarming because victims are now bold enough to report them, says the Fiji Police Force. Police North community policing coordinator, Inspector Vidya Pillay, said they received reports of sexual offences almost on a daily basis.

“The figure is alarming but I must acknowledge that the figure may indicate that victims were now bolder in reporting these incidents,” Inspector Pillay said.

Statistics on sexual offences for the month of May have increased, three times more than the number of reported cases in the Northern Division compared to the same period last year.

He highlighted that one of the contributing factors to the increase stems from the lack of supervision and negligence by parents in monitoring their children. “The challenge is on us. How well do we look after our young ones? How well are we looking after our young children? Who are they staying with? Who are they mingling around with? Who are they playing around with? Whom to trust? Whom not to trust,” he said. “Negligence of parents has been identified as a major root cause for the increase.

“In most cases close relatives or neighbours were the usual suspects. We have received a lot cases of defilement and rape involving young victims because of such negligence.”

Common offences include rape, sexual abuse, sexual assault, incest and indecency.

Inspector Pillay stressed the importance of stakeholders like the vanua, church and educational institutions and early childhood educators to help address the issue.

He could not confirm the number of cases being reported so far however, he warned that those people committing such hideous crimes against our women and children would not go unpunished.

“The Fiji Police Force is appealing to parents and guardians to supervise and look after their children well,” Inspector Pillay said.

“Most of the cases of defilement and rapes were committed on young victims and Police investigations have revealed the lack of supervision by adults was a major contributing factor to these cases. “We have been conducting awareness programmes in schools to educate the students; however, during this school break parents and guardians are advised to look after their children,” he said.

Edited by Naisa Koroi Feedback: nacanieli.tuilevuka@fijisun.com.fj