Male offenders aged above 50 years old will not be spared the rod under the Sexual Offences Against Children 2017 Bill, which was tabled in Parliament today.

Section 25 of the bill spells out that the exemption of whipping against male offenders aged above 50, as provided under the Criminal Procedure Code, will not apply.

"Notwithstanding paragraph 289(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code, where a person convicted under any offence under this act is a male, whom the court considers to be more than fifty years of age, he may still be punished with whipping," read the bill...