SINGAPORE — Last month, President Halimah Yacob suggested that rapists over 50 should not be spared from caning, expressing dismay over recent incidents of children being raped in their homes by their male relatives. “It’s timely that we review this law,” she added.
For next week’s Parliament sessions, Workers’ Party head Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC) will ask in Parliament whether there’s a trend of older offenders committing this type of offence. He will ask the Minister for Home Affairs, “how many individuals above the age of 50 have been sentenced for serious sexual offences against young persons compared to those under the age of 50 over the last five, 10 and 15 years respectively.”
The Leader of the Opposition will also ask if there is a trend of more people in their late 40s and older than 50 who have committed serious sexual offences against young persons, including family members and relatives. If this has happened, Mr Singh is also asking whether the reasons behind this increase have been studied.
In relation to his question, his fellow Workers’ Party MP, Mr Dennis Tan (Hougang SMC), has filed the following question for the Minister for Social and Family Development:
(a) how many cases are reported to the Adult Protective Service and the Child Protective Service in each year between 2020 and 2022, respectively;
(b) how effective has the Strengthening Families Programme @ FSCs been so far since its inception, especially in reducing potential cases requiring the assistance of the Adult Protective Service and the Child Protective Service; and (c) what have been the most effective steps taken in preventing new cases of family violence or abuse.”
On Dec 19, in a much-lauded Facebook post, the President wrote,
“I find the recent spate of cases involving rapes of children in their own homes by their male relatives highly disturbing and sickening.”
Mdm Halimah revealed that the reported cases follow a certain pattern, wherein the victims were groomed from a very young age by the sexual predators who were either their fathers, stepfathers or other male relatives so that they thought the sickening acts were normal.
“Rapists should not be spared the cane just because they are fifty years old. It’s ironic that they could escape from the pain caused by caning despite the lifetime of severe trauma and irreparable damage that they cruelly inflicted on their victims which will last a lifetime,” she added.
/TISG
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