Child rapists must be castrated: Madras HC to Centre

Chennai: In an interesting order, Madras High Court has suggested castration as punishment for child rapists.

While passing the order, Justice N Kirubakaran said, "The court cannot be a silent spectator, unmoved and oblivious of the horrible blood curdling gang-rapes of children in various parts of India."

While recommending the Central government to make castration a punishment for child sexual abuse, Justice N Kirubakaran said, the court is sure the castration of child rapists will fetch magical results.

The HC pointed out that countries like US, Poland and Russia have already enforced castration for sex offences against children.

“This court could foresee that the suggestion of ‘castration’ would be surely condemned, censured and criticised as barbaric, punitive, draconian, cruel, etc. Inspite of many penal laws and the recent POCSO Act, 2012, prescribing severe punishment for crimes against children, the number of such cases has increased from 38,172 in 2012 to 58,224 in 2013 and to 89,423 in 2014,” the HC order said.

The judge noted that between 2012 and 2014 the number of these crimes had increased from 38,172 to 89,423. “Those activists should first exhibit sympathy with, and support to, the victims of such crimes by visiting and consoling them at the hour of crisis instead of having misplaced sympathy with the perpetrators under the usual banner of ‘human rights violation’. They must remember that ‘human rights’ is not a term restricted to, and reserved only, for offenders, the order read.”

The court passed the order on October 16 while hearing a petition of a youth hailing from Tamil Nadu. The 18-year-old boy alleged that a British national sexually abused him in 2011 after promising his mother that he would take care of his education.