EDITORIAL COMMENT : Everyone has duty to rid society of rapists

There is an upsurge of cases of rape involving minors and what is painful is that in most cases the rapists are relatives. The same people who the victims look up to for protection are the monsters. Children have been raped by their uncles, cousins, grandfathers and in some cases biological fathers have turned rapists.

Many of the rape cases especially committed by close relatives are not being reported as family members fear soiling their names. The victims of rape are traumatised the rest of their lives so raping is as good as sentencing an individual to death. The courts have been sending rapists to jail but it seems the sentences have not been deterrent enough.

Some sections of society have even proposed more draconian punishment such as castrating the culprits. It is against this background that we welcome Cabinet’s proposed Amendments to the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:33) on minimum mandatory sentence for rapists.

Cabinet is proposing that those convicted of raping minors aged 12 years and below or disabled persons should be sentenced to 60 years imprisonment and those convicted of other rape cases or sodomy be sentenced to 40 years imprisonment.

In a statement, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Christopher Mushohwe said Cabinet’s decision followed widespread concerns over the upsurge in cases of rape and other violent crimes. He said the drastic measures had become necessary to protect society against rapists. We want to commend Cabinet for taking this bold move that we hope is going to be deterrent enough. A sentence of 60 years in jail is as good as life imprisonment so those who dare rape minors risk spending the rest of their lives behind bars.

What we however need to point out is that the mandatory sentence of 60 years will not achieve its intended goal as long as some of the perpetrators of this inhuman crime are protected by society.

We have already alluded to the fact that some of the rape cases involving relatives are not being reported. It is therefore incumbent upon each and every citizen to ensure that society is rid of these undesirable elements by reporting the culprits to the police.

The lives of victims of rape should always come first so families should stop shielding these monsters at the expense of the victims. Rape victims should be attended to immediately at clinics or hospitals and this is only possible if the rape is reported to the police. When a victim is attended to within 72 hours, it is possible to protect her from contracting HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Relatives that protect rapists are therefore worsening the plight of victims by denying them medical services and they should be punished severely.

The community has an obligation to protect especially vulnerable children like girls so those that suspect a child is being sexually abused should not hesitate to bring this to the attention  of authorities regardless of the  relations of the perpetrator to the victim.

Society should shame family members that protect rapists by reporting the abuse to the police. Community leaders such as councillors, headmen, chiefs should take a leading role in ensuring that their communities are rid of rapists.