GEORGE TOWN: Afraid of being scolded by her family for getting pregnant, a teenager went to the extent of making a false police report alleging she was robbed and raped in an incident last year.
The case involving the 17-year-old, who is already working, was one of 100 false reports recorded by the state police in 2021.
State police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said, besides the cases, 99 false reports were recorded involving various motives including loss of identity cards and misuse of money.
According to statistics, he added, a total 463 robberies were reported last year.
"However, when we investigated, 100 of them were found to be false reports, including the teenage girl who claimed to have been robbed and raped.
"There were 74 cases involving loss of identity cards; misuse of money (eight); evading paying debts (four); loss of passports and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards (five); fights and misunderstandings (three); absenteeism (two); false insurance claims (two); fake pregnancy (one) and failure to get family blessings to marry (one).
"Statistics further revealed that the percentage of false reports received last year was 21.6 per cent," he told a press conference here today after the 215th Police Day celebration at the northeast district police headquarters here this morning.
At the event, he also attended a soft launch of the 2nd Penang Bridge PDRM 2022 Solidarity Fun Ride.
Mohd Shuhaily said 11 false reports involving robberies were recorded during the first two months of this year.
"The 11 cases involved loss of identity card (two); loss of passport (two) and one each for false insurance claim, investment fraud and misuse of property.
"We are wasting our time, logistics and resources investigating cases that did not happen.
"This is a serious offence. Those found making false reports can be investigated under Section 182 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment for up to six months or a fine of RM2,000 or both upon conviction," he said.
Mohd Shuhaily said the high number of robberies reported gave the impression that Penang was not safe.
"But the fact is 21.6 per cent of them were false reports," he added.
Earlier in his speech, Mohd Shuhaily urged the police to always maintain the highest level of integrity when performing their duties in line with the wishes of the Inspector-General of Police.
"The mission held is that the police always work with the community so they are more comfortable with us in channelling information.
"Penang police is also currently working with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) to seek advice and assistance from the university to study and improve the state police's services in a more organised and scientific context when it comes to problems in the society," he said.