Editorial: Show No Mercy for Child Rapists

By Admin 16 Oct 2023

Cases of rape of minors have been on the rise around the world, including in developed countries. While the death penalty is imposed for sexual assaults of minors in some countries, the maximum sentence in Myanmar is life imprisonment. 
 
During a Lower House session on June 18, 2018, lawmaker Daw Khin Saw Wai from Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township tabled a proposal calling for introduction of the death penalty for the rape of minors. The proposal failed as 141 lawmakers voted in favour and 227 voted against.
 
The proposal was submitted in response to a rise in sexual abuse of children, and a wave of street protests calling for imposition of the death penalty. It is disappointing that the parliament failed to meet the demand of members of the public.
 
In one high-profile 2019 case, a toddler nicknamed Victoria was raped at a nursery in the administrative capital Naypyitaw, sparking national outrage. But the perpetrator was never punished, no doubt fostering a sense of impunity among potential child rapists.
 
For most victims of child rape, psychological trauma will last a lifetime. Demands for the death penalty for rapists of minors are therefore not unreasonable.
 
Section 78(a) of the Child Rights Law, enacted by the Union Parliament in 2019, states: “Nothing is an offence which is done by a child who has not attained the age of 10 years.” Section 78(b) also says “Nothing is an offence which is done by a child above 10 and under 12 years of age, who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge the nature and consequences of his or her conduct on that occasion.”
 
This gives rise to the question, is it not an offence if a minor is raped by another minor younger than 10? Every perpetrator must be punished. The law is not a rubber band that can be bent this way and that. 
 
To our dismay, child rapes have been on the rise in Arakan State. Demands for the imposition of heavy penalties thus must be heeded.
 
As the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) controls much of the judicial system in Arakan State, there is a need for the armed group to set an example by imposing heavy penalties against rapists of minors, in order to produce a deterrent effect.
 
Section 376 of the Penal Code prescribes 20 years to life imprisonment for rape. DMG urges the ULA/AA to administer fitting punishments, depending on the severity of sex crimes involving young victims.