Suggestions for CJI Justice Verma
CJI
Justice Verma heads the committee seeking suggestions for possible amendments
to criminal law for those accused of sexual assault of extreme nature against
women.
For
those who would like to send in their recommendations, please email Justice
Verma - justice.verma@nic.in or Fax
at 011.23092675
Please find my suggestion for chemical castration of those
convicted of rape. This suggestion had been made nearly 2 years back by
Sessions Judge Kamani Lau.
“It is time that we as
a civil society stand up and also think of a law similar to the one existing in
many developed countries providing for surgical and chemical castrations”.
Castration
is a proportional punishment for sex crimes, which are themselves an attack on
the sex organs of the victim.
Countries using Chemical Castration
to sentence people convicted of sexual crimes (namely; rapists and pedophiles):
United States
·
California[1]
·
Florida[2]
·
Georgia
·
Montana
·
Oregon,
Europe[5]
I am mouthing the opinions of many that castration is a proportional punishment for sex crimes, which are themselves an attack on the sex organs of the victim.
Since many sex offenders contend
that their crimes are the result of a disease that they cannot control, I do
believe that chemical castration is a fair way to treat repeat sex offenders
that want to return to normal society.
Sex is an act oriented
toward the future, and sex crimes are a violation of the human right to face
the future with dignity. Rape, in particular, is often the violation of a
woman's rights and self-respect. Nobody has the right to act or think of abuse
of a persona’s body to meet the need of one’s self.
An overhauling of the
societal mindset towards such crimes is an essential yet a separate leg for
once the person is within the criminal justice system, the law must provide its
own end. Alongside the essential need to protect human right and dignity,
stands the crucial concern for a safer humane future.
Sex crimes imperil
society's very future. Socio-biologists have advanced theories arguing that
rapists carry hereditary material into the next generation through their
heinous act.
Castration stops this directly.
To balance the law where both ends,
justice for the victim and rehabilitation for the perpetrator, chemical
castration meets the objective for it is not a surgical removal of the
rapist’s organ but a check on his libido that hampers him as well as the
society.
Finally, castration is
a proportional punishment for sex crimes, which are themselves an attack on the
sex organs of the victim.
From
Name: Amrita Bhinder, Lawyer
Email: amritabhinder@gmail.com
[1] The first U.S. state to specify the use of
chemical castration as a punishment for child molestation, following the passage of a
modification to Section 645 of the California penal code in 1996.[13][14] .This law stipulates that
anyone convicted of child molestation with a minor under 13 years of age may be
treated with Depo Provera (Chemical Castration) if they are on parole and it is their second offense and that
offenders may not reject the treatment.[13][14][15][16]
[2] As in California, treatment is mandatory
after a second offense
[3] In Iowa, as in California and Florida,
offenders may be sentenced to chemical castration in all cases involving
serious sex offenses.
[4] On June 25, 2008, following a Supreme Court
ruling (Kennedy Vs. Louisiana) that the execution of child rapists where the
victim was not killed was unconstitutional,[18] Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed Senate Bill 144,
allowing Louisiana judges to sentence convicted rapists to chemical castration.[4][19][20]
[5] The drug cyproterone acetate has
been commonly used for chemical castration throughout Europe. It is similar to
the drug MPA used in America.[5]
[7] In 2008, an experimental intervention
program was launched in Portugal, covering
three prisons, in Carregueira (Belas, Sintra), Paços de Ferreira and Funchal. The program also included a rehabilitation component.[26]
[8] On September 25, 2009, Poland passed
legislation for forcible chemical castration of child molesters.[27] This
law came into effect on June 9, 2010, so in Poland "anyone guilty of
raping a child under the age of 15 can now be forced to submit to chemical and
psychological therapy to reduce sex drive at the end of a prison term".[28]
[9] On April 30, 2010, a man in the United Kingdom found guilty of attempting
to murder a 60-year-old woman in order to abduct and rape her two
granddaughters, agreed to undergo chemical castration as part of the terms of
his sentence.[29]
[15] In New Zealand, the antilibidinal drug cyproterone acetate is
sold under the name Androcur. In November
2000 convicted paedophile Robert
Jason Dittmer attacked a victim while on the drug. In 2009 a study into the
effectiveness of the drug by Dr David Wales for the Corrections Department
found that no research had been conducted in New Zealand into the effectiveness
and such trials were ethically and practically very difficult to carry
out.[35]
[16] In July 2011, South Korea enacted a law
allowing judges the power to sentence sex offenders who have attacked children
under the age of 16 to chemical castration.[36] On May 23, 2012, a repeat
sexual offender known only as Park was sentenced to this treatment after his
most recent attempted offence.