Reported cases of domestic violence rose by 41.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter this year, from 60 to 85.
The overall number of reported crimes rose 8.3 percent year-on-year.
Secretary for Security Cheong Kuoc Va presented the first quarter’s crime statistics in a press conference at the Sao Francisco BarracksThursday.
Macau Public Security Forces Co-ordination Office Director Cheang Seng Chio and Cheong’s advisor Sam Chong Nin were also present.
According to Cheong, a total of 3,505 crimes were reported during the first quarter of the year, a rise of 8.3 percent from a year earlier.
Drug-trafficking cases declined 9.5 percent, from 63 in the first quarter of last year to 57 in the same period of this year. Reported cases of drug use also decreased, from 72 to 43, a 40.3 percent decrease.
According to Cheong, the number of reported cases of domestic violence rose by 41.7 percent, from 60 cases in the first quarter of last year to 85 cases in the same period of this year. Among the 85 cases, there were 70 female victims, up from 47, while the number of male victims was eight, down from 15. Among the female victims, 51 were wives, according to Cheong.
According to Cheong, there was also a surge in extortion cases in the first quarter of this year, with the number of cases from 9 in the first quarter of last year to 28 in the same period of this year, up 211.1 percent year-on-year.
Cheong said that there were no murders or kidnappings reported during the first three months of the year.
According to Cheong, the number of reported cases of robbery dropped from 38 to 28, a 26.3 percent year-on-year decrease. The cases of all kinds of theft decreased by 8.1 percent, with 980 cases reported in the three-month period.
Cheong also said that the increase in the overall crime figures was primarily due to a rise in assault, loan-sharking and extortion cases. Loan-sharking cases rose 63.6 percent, from 33 to 54. Cheong also said that many of the extortion cases were online “naked chat” blackmails .
Cheong also said that the government was considering to reduce the number of days mainland visitors can stay in Macau when they use the city as a transit point to a third country. He said that some visitors abuse the system as they do not actually travel to another destination and then return to the mainland.
Cheong said that the possible reduction in the number of days aims to discourage those visitors from abusing the transit system. According to Cheong, mainland visitors in transit were allowed to stay 14 days before August 2008 but it has meanwhile been reduced to seven.
He also said the government will announce the measure soon.(macaunews/macaupost)
