PETALING JAYA: The case of a teenage girl who was allegedly raped by a police inspector in Kedah will be taken seriously, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

The Law and Institutional Reform Minister emphasised that specific procedures for handling child witnesses, like the Evidence of Child Witness Act 2007 and the Special Guidelines for Handling Cases of Sexual Offences against Children, exist and must be followed.

“I take this case seriously and would like to emphasise that there is a specific procedure for handling child witnesses which is the Evidence of Child Witness Act 2007,” she tweeted on Monday (Jan 2).

Azalina was responding to news reports of a 16-year-old teen who filed a report on Saturday (Dec 31) in Alor Setar, Kedah claiming she had been raped by an inspector while at a district police headquarters last Wednesday (Dec 28) at about 6.30pm.

The victim had been present at the headquarters in connection with a separate case when the alleged offence took place.

According to reports, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani confirmed the report and the arrest of the officer but declined to comment further as investigation was still ongoing.