Sixty percent of rape cases in Myanmar in 2016 have been cases of child rape, said Deputy Home Affairs Minister Colonel Aung Soe at a parliament session yesterday.
He added that he was worried because the frequency of child rape cases appears to be increasing.
Child rape cases made up 42.9 percent of all rape cases in 2013; 44.18 percent in 2014; 46.33 percent in 2015 and 61.1 percent in 2016.
Lower House MP Daw Khin Sann Hlaing from Pale Township said in the parliament session: “Every polite society despises rape cases. The worst thing is that we are hearing that underage kids are being victimized. We cannot even imagine how their relatives will feel about it. We’re so sorry.”
She added that two child rape cases are reported every three days in the country.
“Children are the future, and it seems like future is being raped,” she said.
Colonel Aung Soe also explained that Ministry of Home Affairs is implementing a project to reduce child rape cases and is taking action against police who neglect to pursue suspects.
There are 99 child rape cases being handled by township courts and 418 cases by district courts, bringing the total to 517 child rape cases this year.
The maximum sentence for child rape in Myanmar is 20 years in prison, according to Section 376. However, the ministry is drafting two new laws that will make punishments for child rapists more severe.
