Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat...

Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil supported the move to introduce the death penalty for child rapist, saying that stiffer penalty was what the public wanted but the Bar Council and women groups maintained their stand against the death penalty.
In a joint Press statement prepared by the Women's Aid Organisation and endorsed by 29 non-governmental organisations including Sisters In Islam, Protect and Save the Children Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Association of Registered Child Care Providers Malaysia, Malaysia Association of Kindergartens, Selangor and Federal Territory Association for Retarded Children and others, they urged the Government to reconsider the proposal and focus on ensuring effective prosecution that will result in conviction of the perpetrators.
"The imposition of the mandatory death penalty will not solve the problem of the high rate of rape and incest and in fact may possibly work to the disadvantage of the survivors in terms of reporting and recovering from the trauma," they said.
Bar Council president Mah Weng Kwai said there was no change in its stand against the death penalty. "We (Bar Council) will not support the move to impose the death penalty for statutory rape, but we will support other means of heavier penalty."
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said the Cabinet was expected to accept a proposal calling for the death penalty for child rapists. He said the ministry had received feedback from many quarters including the National Unity and Social Development and Women and Family Development Ministries pressing for death sentence for such offenders.
All Women's Action Society administration and programme manager Manohary Subramaniam said report on child rapes would drop drastically if death penalty was imposed although the actual number of cases might not drop.
Manohary, however, said the psychological effect on the child too had to be taken into consideration before the death penalty for child rapists was accepted by the Cabinet.
"The child may have to live with the fact that she has sent someone to the gallows.
"Death does not solve the problem. One moment of violence or losing control of someone's senses does not warrant a death sentence."
Manohary said the problem had to be looked at from a wider perspective and the root cause had to be addressed.