KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has dismantled a group known as Geng Budak Sekolah (School Kids Gang), allegedly involved in sexual crimes, including the disturbing case of a 12-year-old girl believed to have operated a website to sell explicit photos of herself, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail revealed that the girl jointly managed the website with four of her peers, and the group had also created a WhatsApp group with as many as 762 members.
“Each of them took photos of different parts of their bodies and sold them online. The girl dropped out of school because her income far exceeded that of her parents.
“In this particular case, enforcement action was taken under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, with input and coordination from various other agencies,” he said during Question Time.
Saifuddin was responding to Jerai MP Sabri Azit’s query on the government’s efforts to address the growing issue of sexual misconduct, as well as ‘swinger’ crimes involving public servants and university students, and whether existing laws are sufficient to combat online sexual exploitation.
He added that swinger activities are tackled under D7 (PDRM’ Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division), but the case involving school children falls under D11 (Sexual, Women, and Child Investigations Division) at Bukit Aman.
Addressing the rising trend of so-called ‘swinger’ crimes, which involve individuals or couples willingly exchanging partners for sexual activity, the minister noted that there are currently five legal provisions to act against such crimes.
They include the Penal Code, the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, the Film Censorship Act 2002, and various state-level Syariah enactments, all of which facilitate joint enforcement between police and local religious authorities.
In August last year, D7 successfully infiltrated and identified a website promoting swinger activities, which then led to a raid on a luxury condominium in Kuala Lumpur.
“Among those arrested were students from both public and private universities, civil servants, and foreign nationals. Charges have since been filed under the Penal Code, and the case is now in court,” Saifuddin said.
