Kedah Youth Parliament Rep Wants Paedophiles To Be Punished This Way
He made this statement at the Youth Parliament session yesterday, 10 August.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 11 Aug 2016, 08:43 AM
Paedophiles should be chemically castrated, said Mohd Firdaus Ahmad, a Youth Parliament representative yesterday, 10 August
Mohd Firdaus Ahmad, a representative from Kedah, when debating a motion that the government enhance current laws and take drastic measures to curb crime involving child sex, made the proposal during the Youth Parliament session here today, 10 August.
Chemical castration is known to reduce sexual interest, libido and arousal using drugs and behavioural therapy courses.
"Such punishment can therefore instil fear among offenders," added Firdaus, referring to the consequences of chemical castration.
Just a few months ago, in May 2016, Indonesia introduced chemical castration as a form of punishment for child sex offenders, following the brutal gang-rape and murder of a young girl.
According to a report by The Guardian, convicted paedophiles will be made to wear electronic monitoring devices even after their release from the jail.
Indonesia is one of the few countries in the world that uses chemical castration as a form of punishment for child sex offenders. Other countries include certain states in the United States, Poland, South Korea and Russia.
What is chemical castration?
An article by the New York magazine explained how a hormone therapy was introduced in the 1940s in America as a way of lowering testosterone and reducing "pathological" sexual behaviour in men.
However, starting from the 2000s, doctors started using a prescription drug, Lupron that is used to treat prostate cancer to reduce the sexual urges in men.
While its long term effects are debatable and said to be rare, but some reportedly had increased body fat levels, reduced bone density, which in turn increases a person's risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia, laws against paedophilia is still at an infant stage
The Child Act 2001 states that an adult offender under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides a maximum of 14 days remand. The Malaysian law states that suspects can only be charged if convicted with penile penetration and incest.
Malaysia just approved a registry for child sex offenders earlier this year. In line with that, the authorities also informed that they are currently working on creating specific laws against paedophilia.
"Now, when an offence of the nature (paedophilia) is committed... It is (considered) either rape, molestation or abuse," said Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim.
Adding to measures for curbing child sex crimes, another representative from Selangor said that a paedophile database should be set up for the public's reference
He said the database need to provide an online tracking system or learn the profile of the offender, especially when they apply for employment at childcare centres or schools.
"Such measures have been implemented in many countries so that parents can refer or check their profile online if there are doubts on their behaviour," he said.
malaysiakini.com
The Youth Parliament of Malaysia serves as an elected youth council with representatives from around the country, that simulates the parliamentary proceedings of the Parliament of Malaysia
Members of the Youth Parliament seen discussing issues at the Dewan Rakyat during the first session conducted on 10 January 2016.
Image via The Malay Mail OnlineThe representatives must be between the ages of 18 to 30. The aim of the youth parliament is to give young people the a clearer idea of the workings of the Malaysian parliament and to raise awareness on the intricacies of a working government.
Three sessions are held annually and this year's first session was held from 17 - 18 February and the second session was held from 9 - 10 August.
Do you think chemical castration is too severe a punishment for paedophiles? Let us know in the comments section below!