A 12-year-old girl in Malaysia was found to have set up a website with four friends and managed a WhatsApp group with 762 members whose interest revolved around trading photos of “body parts”, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said.
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“They took photos of their body parts and sold them. The girl even dropped out of school because her monthly income was higher than her parents’ combined earnings,” he said in Parliament on Tuesday as he sought to illustrate the dilemma facing law enforcement in the country when it involved minors.
He said while enforcement action could be taken, such cases raised legal and ethical challenges.
“When we act against minors, [the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia] will remind us that children cannot be tried in open court,” he said. “The question then arises: what happens to their future? This is why we also need input from other agencies.”
Saifuddin added that the Home Ministry was working closely with other agencies and ministries such as Women, Family and Community Development; Communications, and Education to address the issue comprehensively.
He stressed that enforcement must be paired with preventive measures, particularly the instilling of good values within families and communities. “Technology, if used for the wrong purposes, can bring harmful consequences,” he said.