The rising incidence of incest in PAS-led Kelantan may be due to increased stress in its society, parliamentary secretary in the Prime Minister's Department Noh Omar said today.

Noh said lack of entertainment outlets and too many ceramahs (public talks) may be the reason for incest in the predominantly Malay and Muslim state.

He said although Kelantan has no discos as it is an Islamic state, that has not curbed social ills such as incest.

"Perhaps the ceramahs are too heavy and the men [who make up the audience] become highly intense," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Noh added, however, "The important issue here is awareness - this is a social problem and we need to be more pro-active in handling the issue."

Earlier in Parliament, Noh was asked by Ismail Noh (PAS-Pasir Mas) to reveal the statistics for incest cases according to states from 1999 to 2001.

The Prime Minister's Department was also asked whether it would implement syariah laws to handle incest cases.

Noh said the highest number of police reports lodged on the matter since 1999 and up to June this year are in Johor (59), Sabah (53) and Selangor (49).

They are followed by Sarawak (43), Kedah (30), Perak (30), Pahang (27), Penang (24), Negeri Sembilan (20), Terengganu (19), Kelantan (16), Melaka (14), Kuala Lumpur (9) and Perlis (8).

Noh revealed that the number of cases reported for Johor and Selangor has decreased. In Johor it went down from 33 (1999) to 15 (2000) to 11 (2001) and in Selangor it was 16 (1999) to 24 (2000) to 9 (2001).

"But the number in Kelantan has increased from three (1999) to four (2000) and nine (2001)," said Noh.

"These are only police reports and do not really indicate the actual number of cases," he added.

Punishable under Penal Code

On whether incest cases can be tried under syariah laws, Noh said the matter was up to the complainant.

He said if the complainant made a police report then it will be handled by the Civil Court.

"The Civil Court is faster in handling such cases because there are statutory punishments for offenders who sexually abuse girls under 16 years with or without consent," said Noh.

He said there are provisions in syariah laws in every state to handle such cases and it is up to the victims to go and report the cases to the relevant authorities.

Recently, Parliament amended the Penal Code to include crimes of incest to be punishable under Section 336 (a).

The amendment, said Noh, would be gazetted soon as it has been voted in by both the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat.