Police officers must deal diligently with family sexual violence cases if it is brought to their attention or face arrest.
Deputy police commissioner administration Raphael Huafolo said this in response to the issue of the slow processing of family sexual violence cases.
This problem was outlined in an evaluation report of the setup of the family sexual violence units in the country.
The evaluation report raises the issue of delays in cases being dealt with and fewer arrests and the lack of consistent service delivery.
Huafolo says the police have taken a very strong stance against such cases.
In one such instance, four police officers were dealt with after they did nothing for over a year in relation to a case involving a 10-year-old who was sexually assaulted by her stepfather.
An eye witness laid the complaint to the four different police officers but after a year, no action was taken whilst the abuse continued.
Huafolo said in this case, Police Commissioner Gari Baki personally intervened and had all four officers charged for professional negligence.
People have been encouraged to lay formal complaints on officers who are slow to work on the family sexual violence cases that they report.
“Only through stringent follow-through approaches can cases also be dealt with as well as officers also held accountable for their roles and efficiency in dealing with cases,” he adds.