Sept 15, 2009, Tuesday - KUALA LUMPUR: Several Sara-wak non-governmental organisations, claiming to fight for the cause of Penan girls and women who were allegedly raped, have refused to assist police in their investigations.

CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said police had held three meetings with the NGOs but none of them brought any witnesses who could help in the probe.

“The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, and I never treat rape or any form of sexual abuse cases lightly.

“We have always placed such cases with high or top priority and have held numerous discussions on such topics with NGOs,” he said.

Comm Mohd Bakri said Musa and him met with several NGOs on Jan 2 to discuss the alleged rape of Penan girls and women.

He added that he was appointed by Musa to head a special task force comprising officers from Bukit Aman and the Sarawak police.

The officers visited nine settlements where the alleged rapes, molest and sexual abuse took place.

“We faced numerous obstacles in our investigations including non-cooperation by the alleged victims and witnesses.

“Another meeting with the Sarawak NGOs was held on Jan 20 where I pleaded with them to assist police by bringing the victims and witnesses to meet the task force members so that we can get to the bottom of the matter.

“Our plea fell on deaf ears. Despite that, we called for another meeting on Aug 17 and I once again pleaded with them but to no avail.”

Comm Mohd Bakri said that since 1995, police had investigated 14 rape cases in the Baram district, four of them involving Penan women.

Out of the four, he said three included the cases reported to police last year.

He said the cases could not be brought to court due to insufficient evidence.

“Police conduct investigations within the perimeters of the law and offenders are brought to court only when there is sufficient evidence.

“Irrefutable evidence is essential to a successful rape prosecution as mere filing of a rape case in court without such evidence is an exercise in futility and may bring about serious legal repercussions,’’ he said.