The Cabinet is due to discuss stiffer sentences for...

The Cabinet is due to discuss stiffer sentences for rapists, including the death penalty, in a fortnight and if comments from the country's de facto law minister are any indication, the proposal to hang offenders will be endorsed by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his ministers.
An informal campaign by the media for tougher punishment for rapists was triggered off last year after an eight-year-old girl and her mother were raped by robbers. De facto Law Minister Rais Yatim said that proposed amendments to the Penal Code covers a section that provides a jail term of not less than five years and not more than 20 years, and whipping, for those convicted of rape.
He said that various groups had given feedback to the Prime Minister's Department and the Women and Family Development Ministry, asking for heavier sentences.
'The strong calls for the imposition of the death penalty on those convicted of raping young girls will almost certainly be acknowledged by the government. It is very likely that the proposal will be accepted. However, we will have to wait for the official decision by the Cabinet,' he said.
If the government decided that the death penalty was not appropriate, there would be an increase in the maximum jail term. 'I believe that if stiffer punishment is not meted out there will be no stopping to rape cases,' he said.