DAP Wanita has urged Putrajaya to consult all stakeholders before pushing forward with legislative amendments to ensure mandatory jail sentence for those convicted of statutory rape.

dap kl convention 141012 teresa kok At a press conference today, DAP Wanita national secretary Teresa Kok said this was necessary to ensure checks and balances and that punishment is clearly spelled out.

"I share the concern of many women's groups where in the judgment of the bowler and electrician, the judges let them off scot-free with only a guarantee for good behaviour.

"But I also don't want to see it going back to the five-year mandatory jail term like before, " she said at the sidelines of the Kuala Lumpur DAP convention.

On Aug 29, the Penang session court spared a 22-year-old man from a jail sentence in favour of a three-year good behaviour bond, for raping a 12-year-old girl last year.

Bowler Noor Afizal Azizan was on Aug 8 also exempted from a jail sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl in 2009 and was instead handed a five-year bond for good behaviour.

Kok said that the parliamentary select committee to review the Penal Code - of which she was a former member - had in 2006 recommended to do away with the five-year mandatory jail term.

'Striking a balance'

The committee had made the recommendation after receiving public feedback. However, the recommendation only applied to cases where the victim had consented to the sexual act.

"At that time students in Form 6 or just came out of schools were sentenced to five years in jail, the future of the boy is destroyed even though it happened because they had a relationship.

"It is because of the pleas from lawyers that made us do away with the five year-minimum rule for statutory rape involving girls aged between 12 to 16 where there is consent," she said.

However, Kok said the same changes had been used by judges in recent judgments that were deemed too lenient.

"I would suggest that the Attorney-General's Chambers that a special committee should be set up to study similar laws in foreign countries.

"Make the law more refined and more detailed when it comes to statutory rape," she said.

S'gor to discuss AES implementation

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz had yesterday reportedly say that Section 376 of the Penal Code would be amended to disallow judges from exercising discretionary powers under Section 294(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code to reduce sentences for statutory rape.

Asked why the Selangor government had not emulated the Penang government by putting the Automated Enforcement System (AES) on hold, Kok said this was a local council matter and had not been raised at the state level.

"They probably applied it at the local government level and the state level has not been aware of it.

"But because many people have expressed concern, the Selangor government will be meeting the Transport Ministry next week," said Kok, who is a member of the state cabinet.

She added that unlike Penang which only had two local councils, Selangor has 12.