The Child Services Unit under the Ministry of Women has discovered that many children are neglected due to religious beliefs.

Unit Assistant Director, Ela Tukutukulevu says some children were not allowed to access medical services because of their religious beliefs.

Tukutukulevu says they received 378 child neglect reports last year alone, a massive increase when compared to 239 cases in 2018.

“So the cases of medical neglect occur if a child is not receiving medical care due to financial constraints or religious beliefs. We also get reports where children may be denied this because of religious beliefs.”

Tukutukulevu says child neglect continues to top the child abuse cases list for the past five years.