KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain has stressed the importance of protecting children, amid increasing numbers of sexual crimes against them last year.

However, the IGP also claimed that there is an increasing number of those in the public who views sexual activities with teenagers as normal — rather than statutory rape — amid what he cited as the normalisation of sex among teenagers.

"There are some in society who see sexual activities as normal behaviour and not a crime, and what is worrying is that the activities are not reported to authorities.

"What is also worrying is that sexual intercourse among children and teenagers has become something that is not alien in our society,” he was quoted saying by Utusan Malaysia.

He did not elaborate on his comments.

However, his remarks were made in response to data released by the Department of Statistics showing that cases of sexual crimes against children increased by 9.5 per cent last year to 1,621 compared to 1,481 in 2021.

Similarly, the department also recorded a drop of 12.8 per cent in the number of children involved in crime last year, which is 3,013 cases compared to 3,457 cases in 2021.

Razarudin cautioned that a drop in crime statistics may however also be caused by underreporting.

In March, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said that there were 5,519 cases reported under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 between 2018 and January this year.