KOTA BHARU: Kelantan police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat stressed that his proposal to review existing laws, particularly in cases involving alleged consensual sex classified as rape, was his personal view and not the position of any party.
He insisted there was no need to retract the statement despite calls from various quarters.
“Why should I apologise or withdraw the statement when it was merely my personal opinion? It is up to the government whether to take it into account or not. Even if it is not considered, it is not an issue, as Home Minister (Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) has said it was my personal view,” he said.
He said this to reporters after attending the Kelantan investiture ceremony in conjunction with Sultan Muhammad V’s 56th birthday celebration at Istana Balai Besar here on Monday (Sept 29).
Comm Yusoff explained that his proposal was based on police investigations in Kelantan, which found that most statutory rape cases involved consensual acts between minors, raising questions of fairness when only one party is prosecuted in court.
He assured that he would withdraw the proposal if it led to confusion or appeared insensitive, and expressed regret if his previous statement had upset any party.
On Sept 23, Saifuddin Nasution described Comm Yusoff’s proposal on dealing with underage sexual offences involving consensual acts as his personal opinion.- Bernama
