News / National
Muchinguri throws weight behind Grace Mugabe
20 Jun 2014 at 10:53hrs | Views
Rapists should not only face incarceration but should be beheaded, Women Affairs minister, Oppah Muchinguri has said, joining First lady Grace Mugabe in advocating for this kind of punishment.
Speaking at the launch campaign against rape, an event which came against the backdrop of shocking incidences of rape of women, girls and even elderly women, Muchinguri said current sentences being passed by the courts were too lenient.
"Rapists should face lifetime imprisonment, in fact, I support what Amai Grace Mugabe has called for, kana kutogurwa musoro chaiko (behead the rapists). Kune vanhu vakaita saana Gumbura, ngavafire zvavo mujeri tinamate mwari zvakanaka. (People like Gumbura should die in prison so we can pray in peace) This is time for action, no theorising but action," she said.
The first lady recently told a World Blood donor day celebration in Chinhoyi that rapists should be beheaded as a way of ending the vice and to deter potential offenders.
Statistics released by police at the function revealed that from 2012 up until the first quarter of this year 3 571 adult women and 7 411 children had been raped.
When Grace made the statement regarding the beheading of rapists, it sparked an uproar from the general public with some pointing out that the exercise was from dark ages and gruesome.
But the minister said it was the only possible way to reduce the vice which was now a threat especially to the future of school-going girls.
"What has become of our society when a two-month-old baby is raped by her father, when a five-year-old baby raptures a uterus after being raped by an uncle, when a 104-year-old grandmother is raped by a 22–year-old man?," Muchinguri asked.
"What has happened to our churches when Satanism seems to be in control, with certain men of the cloth preying on their flock and when traditional healers prescribe raping of minors by their fathers as a way of getting rich or curing HIV and Aids?"
Vice-president Joice Mujuru who was the guest of honour at the function said women should enjoy their freedom.
Speaking at the launch campaign against rape, an event which came against the backdrop of shocking incidences of rape of women, girls and even elderly women, Muchinguri said current sentences being passed by the courts were too lenient.
"Rapists should face lifetime imprisonment, in fact, I support what Amai Grace Mugabe has called for, kana kutogurwa musoro chaiko (behead the rapists). Kune vanhu vakaita saana Gumbura, ngavafire zvavo mujeri tinamate mwari zvakanaka. (People like Gumbura should die in prison so we can pray in peace) This is time for action, no theorising but action," she said.
The first lady recently told a World Blood donor day celebration in Chinhoyi that rapists should be beheaded as a way of ending the vice and to deter potential offenders.
Statistics released by police at the function revealed that from 2012 up until the first quarter of this year 3 571 adult women and 7 411 children had been raped.
But the minister said it was the only possible way to reduce the vice which was now a threat especially to the future of school-going girls.
"What has become of our society when a two-month-old baby is raped by her father, when a five-year-old baby raptures a uterus after being raped by an uncle, when a 104-year-old grandmother is raped by a 22–year-old man?," Muchinguri asked.
"What has happened to our churches when Satanism seems to be in control, with certain men of the cloth preying on their flock and when traditional healers prescribe raping of minors by their fathers as a way of getting rich or curing HIV and Aids?"
Vice-president Joice Mujuru who was the guest of honour at the function said women should enjoy their freedom.
Source - Zim Mail
