Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Number of Teenagers Investigated or Charged for Voluntarily Causing Hurt in the Past Five Years

Question:

Ms Ng Ling Ling: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) for the past five years, what is the number of teenagers aged between 14 to 18 years old who are being investigated or charged for voluntarily causing hurt; (b) of these teenagers, what is the breakdown of their gender; (c) whether there is an increasing trend in the number of teenagers committing such offences; and (d) what are the main reasons that led them to commit such acts.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1.   From 2018 to the first half of 2022, about 1,100 teenagers aged between 14 and 18 years old were investigated for the offence of voluntarily causing hurt. About 80% were male, and about 330 were eventually charged. The number of such cases has decreased over the past five years.

2.   Police do not track the reasons behind the commission of such offences, but their general sense is that the top reasons would include disputes between known parties, retaliatory actions, conflict arising from staring incidents or passing of remarks, and relationship issues.