There is a rising concern among village mayors about the rising incidents of teenagers being reported missing, young girls being abducted and subjected to sexual violence.

In the latest incident, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped by a bus checker. This has prompted many mayors to advise parents to increase supervision of children.

Tomaimano Siaosi said this could be avoided if parents keep an eye on children especially, young teenage girls.

"It's really concerning to hear of the latest incident and this is not the first teenager who has been missing. There were many cases in the past months," Tomaimano said.

"It's also a joint effort between families and villages to protect children from harm and these kinds of incidents in the future."

Another mayor, Patea Aipovi echoed the same sentiment. He said this shouldn't be happening to any child.

"Nowadays we see that there are a lot of cases where young girls are being sexually assaulted and raped," he said.

"This has to stop."

Patea said all villages have strict rules against people committing such crimes and they should be facing the consequences of their ugly behaviour.

He said young girls are supposed to feel safe in their own villages, and the parents should always be on the alert.

Taveuveu Esera agreed on the need for a combined effort between families, villages and churches to push for safer environments for young girls to live in.

He highlighted that their village has harsh punishments for people who commits crimes such as rape and sexual violation.

"This sends out a message to all villagers that these crimes need to stop and to make sure young girls are safe in their villages."