Timely to review caning exemption for rapists over 50 after 'sickening' cases involving child victims: President Halimah

SINGAPORE — President Halimah Yacob has called for a review of a law that exempts male rapists above the age of 50 from being caned, stating that it is “ironic” that they can escape from the pain caused by the punishment despite the “lifetime of severe trauma” they inflict on their victims.

Madam Halimah made this suggestion in a Facebook post on Monday (Dec 19) in light of what she said is a recent spate of “highly disturbing and sickening” cases involving the rapes of children in their own homes by their male relatives.

Section 325 of the Criminal Procedure Code exempts from caning all men above 50, as well as women, and men sentenced to death whose sentences have not been changed to another that is less severe.

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

However, the law states that a convict who cannot be caned can be given an extra jail sentence of up to 12 months instead.  

That being said, in 2017, 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.

Mdm Halimah's post did not address the question of whether she believed that other male offenders above 50 should be caned.

Earlier this month, a 50-year-old man was sentenced by the High Court to 28 years' jail for raping and sexually assaulting his stepdaughter over six years. Given his age, no sentence of caning was imposed.

Other recent cases include a 37-year-old man who admitted in court on Nov 18 that he had tried to rape his four-year-old daughter twice while his wife was out of the house.

The day before, a 58-year-old man was sentenced to 23 years' jail for raping his intellectually disabled daughter after his wife stopped being intimate with him.

Mdm Halimah said that in some rape cases, the offences were committed earlier but reported only after the perpetrator reached 50 years old.

“It’s timely that we review this law. It’s our duty to protect our young and we must not fail them,” she added.

Anyone convicted of statutory rape can be jailed for up to 20 years and given at least 12 strokes of the cane for each count of the offence.

Mdm Halimah noted that the reported cases follow a certain pattern.

For instance, the victims had been groomed from a very young age by the “sex predators” who were either their fathers, stepfathers or other male relatives, so that the victims thought that the acts committed against them — for years in some cases — were normal.

“Quite a number of the victims only discovered that such acts were wrong when they attended sex education classes much later in school. The sex predators had preyed on their innocence to persuade the victims that the perversion was all right.”

Some victims, she added, were reluctant to complain about the rapes for fear of breaking up the family or losing the main breadwinner, while others were threatened and intimidated into silence.

“Imagine the terror and vulnerability of a child stuck in a home that’s supposed to be a sanctuary but became a living hell instead,” Mdm Halimah said. 

The worry is that there could be many more unreported cases, she added.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how much pain and damage these young victims had to suffer.” 

Therefore, there needs to be better protection for children from such sexual predators.

“Severe punishments for convicted offenders are important but not sufficient by itself,” she said, adding that there has to be other ways to help children from falling prey to rapists.

“Also, rapists should not be spared the cane just because they are 50 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.”

Mdm Halimah said that there are organisations in Singapore handling domestic violence cases such as Promoting Alternatives to Violence that are doing good work, and she hopes that together with the relevant government agencies, they may look at ways to better protect children from sexual abuses in the home.

During a parliamentary session on Sept 13 last year, Mr Murali Pillai, Member of Parliament for Bukit Batok, raised questions on the harsher penalties for sexual offences and asked Law Minister K Shanmugam if caning should be determined by medical fitness and not age.

He said that under the current law, a repeat offender over 50 years old “may potentially get a less deterrent sentence even after taking into account that he may get an additional term of imprisonment of up to 12 months in lieu of caning". 

Mr Pillai then said: “I don’t see why Parliament should presume in favour of a repeat sex offender that he is not fit to be caned when he is clearly fit enough to commit such heinous acts." 

In response, Mr Shanmugam said that “there was no reason to raise the age limit”.

“The proportion or number of men over the age of 50 arrested for serious offences that attract caning are significantly lower compared to men under the age of 50… (Mr Pillai) raised the concern of offenders who are near the age of 50 delaying the proceedings to escape caning. Raising the age limit by itself may not stop the problem because when you shift the line, the problem may also shift,” he added.     

TODAY has sought comments from both the Ministry of Law and Attorney-General's Chambers, as well as the Law Society of Singapore.