News / National
Women parliamentarians push for castration of rapists
19 Mar 2014 at 23:08hrs | Views
Women parliamentarians are pushing for severe penalties which include mandatory life sentences or castration for rapists to safeguard the girl child and women from unrepentant rapists.
They said it is not enough to sentence rapists to jail terms of between 12 and 15 years for each count of rape as the emotional and psychological trauma endured by victims is irreparable.
Women are therefore are calling for the imposition of drastic measures on rapists and molesters which include the death penalty, castration, and the imposition of life imprisonment and applaud women and girls who are braving societal restraints and exposing rapists.
"A person who rapes his daughter must not be allowed to live. He would have permanently destroyed a girl child's life and should be castrated or sentenced to death," said one parliamentarian.
While acknowledging that there has to be a balance between the need to safeguard society from malcontents and deviants who include rapists and the legal provisions for rape, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Mr Jonathan Samukange, said castration is not a viable option.
The call for the imposition of stiffer penalties on convicted rapists follows numerous reports of molesting of women in churches and of children in schools and by close relatives.
In recent years, magistrates have bemoaned the lack of harmonisation of their powers with the new constitution's maximum penalty of 25 years per count which is regarded as equivalent to life imprisonment.
They said it is not enough to sentence rapists to jail terms of between 12 and 15 years for each count of rape as the emotional and psychological trauma endured by victims is irreparable.
Women are therefore are calling for the imposition of drastic measures on rapists and molesters which include the death penalty, castration, and the imposition of life imprisonment and applaud women and girls who are braving societal restraints and exposing rapists.
"A person who rapes his daughter must not be allowed to live. He would have permanently destroyed a girl child's life and should be castrated or sentenced to death," said one parliamentarian.
While acknowledging that there has to be a balance between the need to safeguard society from malcontents and deviants who include rapists and the legal provisions for rape, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Mr Jonathan Samukange, said castration is not a viable option.
The call for the imposition of stiffer penalties on convicted rapists follows numerous reports of molesting of women in churches and of children in schools and by close relatives.
In recent years, magistrates have bemoaned the lack of harmonisation of their powers with the new constitution's maximum penalty of 25 years per count which is regarded as equivalent to life imprisonment.
Source - ZBC
