Kelantan, he said, is recording a worrying trend of rape cases this year involving minors and school-going students as young as 13 years old.

Fifty-one rapes were reported in the state from January to July compared to 39 cases in the same period last year, he said.

He added that investigations revealed that those involved met through social networking sites such as Facebook or through the WhatsApp application.

Shafien was speaking to reporters after a working visit to the newly upgraded Jelawat police station here today.

In addition, a total of 14 incest cases were recorded during the same period this year compared to 15 cases last year, he said.

“Regarding cases involving minors between the ages of 13 and 16, we hope that parents will always monitor their children’s movements wherever they are, even when they are at home,” he added.

He said in some cases victims were raped in their own homes or when they were at the suspects’ homes when there were no parents around, adding that in most cases, police managed to detain the suspects as they were known to the victims.