He said 224 cases remain unsolved because the rape victims could not identify the assailants as many were rendered unconscious when the crime was committed.

Replying to a question from Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) today, Fu said many rape victims were also reluctant to help police in their investigations, especially those involving people known to them, or relatives.

To a supplementary question from Karpal Singh on whether the proposed Witness Protection Act would be extended to cover rape victims, which would enable them to provide help to the police and courts, Fu said: "The Act is still being studied.

"What is important is that hundreds of cases are being solved and the crime-solving rate remains high. The unsolved cases are not not due to the absence of a Witness Protection Act but other factors."

To another question from Datuk Tan Lian Hoe (BN-Bukit Gantang), he said police statistics showed 49,903 robberies were reported between 2005 and July this year.

In the same period, 25,383 snatch thefts and 1,431 murders were reported.

Fu said 21,787 women fell victim to snatch thefts and only 270 women were murder victims.

Tan had asked the ministry to provide statistics on the number of women who fell victim to criminal acts for the two-and-a-half year period.

Fu said various measures had been taken to reduce the crime rate, including placing more rank and file police personnel in crime prone areas, conducting anti-crime operations, increasing the number of police stations and police personnel, the use of CCTV in crime prone areas and improving the capability of the police forensics unit.