We have often heard about suggestion for heavier penalties and punishment for rapists, particular on child rapists.
Puteri UMNO has raised the suggestion again (castration and death etc.) during the general assembly. I do understand the rage of the delegates, I share the same sentiment once in a while… but there are a few reasons why the penalties cannot be too severe.
One of the major reasons is to protect the life of the victim. It is cruel to be raped, but it is still better to stay alive than to be dead. If a convicted rapist would have to face castration or death penalty; he could resort to killing the victim once and for all… since that the punishment for raping is nothing less than killing.
The recent cases of Nurin and Preeshena suggested that the rapists are killers regardless, but do mind that there are hundreds and thousands of other sexual assault cases that didn’t get as much attention by the press… and the victims have managed to stay alive.
There will be arguments that the mental torture could be as close to death for the victims; I can understand that… but as long as the victims are still alive, they will have their chances to overcome the nightmare and carry on with their life.
There might be room for more severe punishment to rapist (extra jail terms perhaps), but the law would have it limits. We have to resolve to other solutions to fight sex crimes.
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