KENYA. MPS BACK TOUGH NEW PENALTIES FOR RAPISTS

rapists should be castrated, stoned to death or face the firing squad, MPs were told.
Chemical castration, through pills or injections to remove sexual desire, was one of a raft of new measures to combat sex crimes, contained in a new Bill by Ms Njoki Ndung'u.
MPs agreed unanimously that Ms Ndung'u could present her Bill to Parliament for formal debate.
But another MP - Mr Abdi Sasura - said chemical castration was too lenient and that rapists should be stoned, as they were in Ethiopia.
Health minister Charity Ngilu suggested rapists should be physically castrated, in hospital.
Opposition leader Uhuru Kenyatta said their castration would stop Kenya being viewed as a destination for sex tourism, while Roads minister Raila Odinga told MPs: "Highway robbers are sentenced to death; why do the laws treat highway rapists leniently?" Ms Ndung'u, a nominated MP, wanted to introduce a Bill to bring in harsher penalties, particularly for people who defiled children or raped women and those who were mentally handicapped.