MP for Hinnavaru constituency and Chair of the Parliament Committee on Human Rights and Gender, Jeehan Mahmood, has said that in the past, people who have sexually assaulted children have been advised against it and released back to the public.

Talking on Raajje TV’s “Falasurukhee” program last night, MP Jeehan said that police have previously released child molesters and it is a crime. And because of those people, the public is endangered again.

She said that the committee is looking in to why the investigations in child-related cases are taking so long and the obstructions to getting justice and bringing them to the attention of the relevant institutes. MP Jeehan said that there are cases pending for over ten years in the courts and some cases are being sent back by the Prosecutor General’s Office due to a lack of evidence.

Numerous cases have been under investigation for over a year and looking back on the past 15 years, MP Jeehan said that 3135 cases of child rape have been reported but only 1085 cases have gone to court with only a third of the cases getting a conviction.

The MP for Hinnavaru constituency said that police sends the case after they gather sufficient evidence and the Prosecutor General’s Office take them to court when they are sure of a conviction but when the court process ends, the accused are freed back to society.

And there have been multiple reports against such repeat offenders.