Drastic Proposal by Senators That Could See Men Castrated
A section of Senators on Wednesday proposed castration as punishment for men who sleep with minors.
Led by Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula and his Isiolo counterpart Fatuma Dullo, the lawmakers asked that the surgical procedure is done on people who engaged in sexual activities with underage girls.
Severe Punishment
According to the Senators, this was the only way to reduce the recent reports of multiple school girls who sat for their national exams while pregnant.
The legislators agreed that there was a need for the current Sexual Offenses Act to be reviewed to include castration for offenders.
“Anybody who sees a woman in a ten-year-old child and has sex with them does not deserve to be called a man. Apart from being jailed for life, such a person should also be castrated,” Senator Wetang’ula remarked.
Dullo, who is the Deputy Majority Leader, on her part argued that castration was the harshest sentence that can be meted on sexual predators, noting that after the procedure they were likely not to repeat the same offence.
"Being a severe punishment, it will stop other men from engaging in the criminal activity,” Dullo stated.
Reduce Teenage Pregnancies
Other Senators supported their sentiments, noting that early pregnancies change the lives of school going minors.
Nominated Senator Naomi Shiyonga stated that some paedophiles are left to walk free by the courts arguing that castration was the only way to stop them.
The leaders were reacting to a statement by Vihaga Senator George Khaniri, who tabled chilling statistics of the rate of teenage pregnancies in the country.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 2017 report on adolescent and teenage pregnancies shows that 378,397 girls aged between 10 and 19 years got pregnant between July 2016 and 2017.
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