There is no official record of pregnancies and abortion in rape or incest cases, according to several key government departments.

Health Ministry parliamentary secretary S Sothinathan said the ministry does not keep figures on such cases because "our duty is only to provide healthcare services to the public".

"We don't record the category of pregnancies which result from incest or rape. I'm not sure if the other agencies have the information."

Sothinathan said this when asked to elaborate on last week's proposal to amend laws allowing abortions under medical grounds to be extended to cases of unwanted pregnancies caused by incestuous relationships and rape.

He had told reporters that the proposal, which seeks to amend Section 312 of the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 1989, was in response to non-governmental organisations' calls to extend the exceptions in abortion to these unwanted pregnancies.

Presently, legal abortion is conducted when a registered medical practitioner believes in good faith that the continuance of pregnancy will involve a greater risk to the life of the pregnant woman or injury to her mental or physical health, than if it were terminated.

Not tabulated

Requests by malaysiakini to the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters and the Social Welfare Department for specific statistics on pregnancies/abortions resulting from incest or rape have come up with nothing.

The police only have statistics on the number of rape or incest suspects and survivors while the Social Welfare Department only has the number of child abuse, illegitimate children and abandoned babies cases.

It is learnt both the welfare department and the police had never tabulated the figures, although the rape and incest case files contain these information.

However, both departments did provide a breakdown according to state, racial composition, gender and the relationship between the perpetrators and survivors of rape and incest.

It is learnt that the police did not tabulate the statistics because this type of information is not relevant to the prosecution of the suspects. Nor is it within their scope of investigation as only the information or evidence needed to identify the perpetrator(s) is collated.

Taboo

Researcher Uma Thiruvengadam agreed that it was very hard to obtain statistics or information on pregnancies or abortion in rape and incest cases.

"There is a need to do more indepth study into the area and there is also the question of it being a taboo subject in our society.

"For example, the fear of outsiders knowing about the incestuous relationship between father and daughter is considered shameful for the family," said Uma, who is the assistant programme officer for information and documentation at the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (Arrow).

President of the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Malaysia, Gunasegaran Rajan said the society does not keep records of these cases nor other health indices.

"The Health Ministry is the official organisation that kept records and the society resources it from the ministry when needed. The ministry or individual hospitals should have data on deliveries as a result of rape.

"However, the numbers [of survivors who] deliver are too small and hence it may not be highlighted in the official statistics.

"Some of the cases may not deliver at government hospitals and would prefer to deliver in private, and these are not required to be reported," he said.

One-stop centre

Proposing a dedicated one-stop centre to handle these survivors, Gunasegaran said such centres should be comprehensive.

"They should cover medical, psychological and counselling aspects, both short- and long-term, and can be both in the public and private centres.

"Privacy and confidentiality is essential and it is essential that trained professionals handle these victims. There should also be further guidelines and safeguards in the abortion act to prevent abuse," he added.

Meanwhile, when contacted, National Fatwa Council chairperson Dr Ismail Ibrahim said he was waiting for a meeting to be called by the Department of Islamic Development soon to discuss the proposal.