I read in horror the news of the death of a nine month old baby who died allegedly after being raped and sodomised by her caretaker’s husband yesterday.
This, after the news of a three year old child who died at the Ampang Hospital allegedly due to having been abused just two days ago, makes one wonder how sick some people can be if such allegations are indeed true.
There can be no justification for inflicting such pain on a child to the point of taking away his/her life. It is certainly not human nature to harm children, let alone in such a heinous and inhumane manner.
Even animals protect their offspring and the behaviour of those responsible for the deaths of these young children is beyond comprehension.
I have always been an advocate of the abolishment of the death penalty but cases like this, I think, justify retaining the said death penalty in exceptional cases, especially gruesome murders provided the evidence against such offenders are beyond any reasonable doubt.
It is debatable if the death penalty should be completely abolished in other cases but in cases of murder, especially of children, it should be retained to a certain extent.
I also note the concerns of the families of murder victims recently that the abolishment of the death penalty may send the wrong signal that such crimes are not taken seriously enough.
We cannot ignore such concerns.
In light of the above, I am of the view that there ought to be a discretion given to the courts to impose the death penalty in the most heinous of cases such as the above.
In such a scenario, the court would be able to consider each case based on its peculiar facts and circumstances, and if those circumstances warrant it, impose the death penalty in an appropriate case.
Such discretion will also allow the court to consider any mitigating factors which may favour an accused in sparing him/her from the death penalty.
It is not an easy task, no doubt, but at the same time, such gruesome murders cannot, or be seen to escape the long arm of the law.
The state has a duty to protect such helpless victims and the courts should be empowered to do so.