Rapists above 50 exempted from caning: Any change to law needs ‘serious debate’, chemical castration an option, say lawyers

SINGAPORE — Changing a law that exempts male rapists above the age of 50 from being caned may not adequately deter these culprits from targeting children, some lawyers said.

One proposed that it may be better to explore having chemical castration as a sentencing option for rapists, while another voiced concerns about health safety measures should men above 50 be caned. 

They were responding to TODAY regarding President Halimah Yacob’s suggestion on Monday about this matter, saying that her intentions may be good but there are considerations to be made.

Madam Halimah wrote on Facebook that she had noticed “highly disturbing and sickening” cases involving the rapes of children in their own homes by their male relatives and called for a review of the law on caning criminals to protect children.

Mr Chooi Jing Yen, a partner at law firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, said that if her suggestion were made on the principle of deterrence, then a study needs to be done to examine whether caning has indeed helped to prevent crimes from happening.

Aside from rape, other crimes that include mandatory caning in Singapore are drug trafficking and illegal money lending.

Mr Chooi added that changing the laws to allow rapists above the age of 50 to be caned would also mean carving out an exception for an offence.

He referred to Section 325 of the Criminal Procedure Code as a blanket provision and said that he has yet to come across a case that has been exempted from it.

“As long as you hit one of these criteria, then you simply will not be given a sentence of caning.”

The “criteria” are:

• Being a woman
• Being a man above the age of 50
• Being a man on death row whose sentence has not been changed to another that is less severe

Section 325 of the Criminal Procedure Code exempts these people from being caned.

The law does not state the reason for the exemption, but the health of the convict to be caned is a key consideration.

What the law states is that a convict who cannot be caned may be given an extra jail sentence of up to 12 months instead.  

In 2017, though, the High Court ruled that this extra jail time in lieu of caning for male offenders over 50 should be ordered only in particular circumstances.

Mr Chooi said: “I would think a very serious debate (about Mdm Halimah’s suggestion) needs to happen in Parliament as to why there is a need for such an exemption.” 

He also said that if the law is changed to allow for caning of male rapists above 50, it could possibly lead to a “slippery slope” situation of people seeking similar changes to Section 325’s provisions to further other punish offenders, such as those facing the death sentence.

Mr Peter Ong, managing director of Peter Ong Law Corporation, said that many offences are committed without the realisation of their consequences until it is too late.

“Caning may be a (form of) retribution, but not a deterrent.” 

He also said that raising penalties for various offences have not always led to the desired outcome of preventing the crimes from happening.

For instance, changes to the Penal Code were passed in Parliament on Sept 13 last year to increase the maximum penalties for three types of sexual offences, including outrage of modesty.

Yet, police crime data released in August this year showed that cases of molestation rose to 773 in the first half of this year, up from 739 cases in the same period last year.

“My view is that each case depends on its own unique facts and no two cases are alike,” Mr Ong said.

“Therefore, I do not think it is a good suggestion to review the law that prevents rapists above the age of 50 from being caned as a form of deterrent."

Referring to a line from Mdm Halimah's Facebook post that said some victims may be reluctant to report the crime committed against them for fear of breaking up the family, Mr Ong said that caning may prevent such crimes from coming to light because "daughters may not want their fathers to be caned".

Mr Sunil Sudheesan, director of law firm Quahe Woo & Palmer LLC, said that whether one believes Mdm Halimah’s suggestion is a good one or not also depends on whether they subscribe to corporal punishment.

“Some argue that it is barbaric. But maybe a barbaric response is needed for barbaric crime.”

However, Mr Sunil warned that if a law is passed to allow rapists above the age of 50 to be caned, then adequate health safety measures need to be undertaken as well to prevent the man from getting a heart attack while being caned.

As an alternative, Mr Josephus Tan, a criminal lawyer from Invictus Law Corporation, suggested that it is perhaps “timely for our lawmakers to seriously consider introducing chemical castration as one of our sentencing options for convicted rapists”.

There are now a small number of countries that use chemical castration, among them Estonia, Poland, Russia and South Korea, along with some states in the United States.

Chemical castration is a reversible medical procedure that lowers a person’s libido.

Mr Tan said that this would adequately balance the need to protect the vulnerable in Singapore’s society and to deter the convicted rapist from reoffending.

“Even if (the culprit) wants to do it mentally, he cannot do so physically,” Mr Tan added.

“Also, it cannot be said to permanently deprive the convicted rapist of a second chance in life upon completing his jail and caning sentence, because chemical castration is medically reversible."