- Kaduna State yet to begin implementation of castration law signed in 2020
The parliament of the Republic of Madagascar, an island country lying off the southeastern coast of Africa has promulgated an intriguing law that mandates surgical castration and life imprisonment for individuals convicted of raping children under the age of ten. Reported by Mail Online, the law further stipulates chemical castration and 15 to 20 years of forced labor for those who rape children aged between ten and thirteen.
Worthy of note is that the penalty of castration is not applicable if the offender is a minor. This legislation is a fulfillment of a campaign promise by President Andry Rajoelina and serves to modify the previous law, which sanctioned a sentence of five to twenty years of forced labor for the rape of a minor.
In 2020 Kaduna State signed the State Penal Code (Amendment) Law 2020, which provides surgical castration and removal of Fallopian tubes for male and female convicts respectively upon conviction of raping a child.
The principal law, the Penal Code Law No. 5 of Kaduna State 2017, was amended by substituting Section 258, to now provide that, “whoever commits rape of a child below the age of fourteen (14) years shall on conviction, be punished with Surgical Castration and death.
“Whoever has sexual intercourse with a male child below the age of fourteen years shall be punished with surgical castration and death.
“Where a female adult is convicted for the offence of rape of a child, the Court shall punish the accused with Bilateral Salpingectomy and death.
“Where the victim is above fourteen years, the Court shall on conviction sentence the accused with a punishment of surgical castration and life imprisonment.
“Where the convict is a child, the Court shall order as appropriate under the Children and Young Person Law Cap 26 Laws of Kaduna State 1991.
“Where the victim is a child, the Court shall in addition to the conviction, order that the convict be listed in the Sex Offenders Register to be published by the Attorney General.
“Where the Court is trying the offence of rape involving a child below the age of fourteen years, corroboration of a medical report shall be necessary.”
Support and Opposing Views
Minister of Justice Landy Randriamanantenasoa has expressed approval for the bill, advocating for the public’s awareness of the offenders’ crimes and identities. Contrarily, international human rights organizations are voicing strong objections. Amnesty International, in particular, has criticized the law, condemning it for contradicting constitutional and international human rights standards. Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s regional director, underscored the endemic under-reporting of rape cases in Madagascar, expressing apprehension that the new law could potentially exacerbate this issue.
International Trend?
The introduction of this law in Madagascar echoes a similar move by Kazakhstan, which recently enacted a law advocating the surgical castration of severe child sex offenders. This Kazakh law was instituted following a high-profile case involving the death of a five-year-old girl, which instigated public uproar and demands for more stringent punishments.
Report by bnnbreaking/NAN
