Mus Aris bin Syukur was convicted over the rape of nine young girls between 2015 and 2018 in Mojokerto, Indonesia has been sentenced to chemical castration by the court, a judgement which some persons have considered harsh
He will become the first person in his country to be chemically castrated in a landmark court ruling declaring harsher punishment for sex offenders especially pedophiles
He was sentenced at a court in East Java under the Presidential Regulation In Lieu of Law.
The law has since enabled judges to enact the death penalty and chemical castration for convicted paedophiles.
The court ruling read: “We hereby give the additional sentence in the form of chemical castration to the convicted.”
Indonesian President Speaks
President Joko Widodo said at the time of ratification: “This regulation is intended to overcome the crisis caused by sexual violence against children.
“Sexual crimes against children are extraordinary crimes, because they threaten the lives of children.”
Doctors are reluctant, say they are not executioners, delay execution of judgement
The judgement cannot be implemented in the country yet as doctors have refused to perform the procedure.
Indonesia’s medical practictioners has insisted the practise goes against their ethics and violates a 2016 edict by the Medical Ethics and Honors Council. As a result, the punishment date has not been set.
DI chairman Ilham Oetama Marsis said in an official statement in 2016: “Don’t involve doctors as executors of the additional punishment”.
“Chemical Castration will NOT deter Rapists”, doctors say
The head of medical doctors in Indonesia continues: “Based on scientific evidence, chemical castration does not suppress perpetrators’ desire for sexual violence.”
What is chemical castration?
It involves the use of anaphrodisiac drugs via injection or tablets, to reduce libido or sexual activity. The effects are reversible after the person stops taking the drug. Castration can also be surgical. Wikipedia says: “Unlike surgical castration, where the gonads are removed through an incision in the body,chemical castration does not remove organs, nor is it a form of sterilization.
It is generally considered reversible when treatment is discontinued, although permanent effects in body chemistry can sometimes be seen, as in the case of bone density loss increasing with length of use of DMPA”.
Countries that that constitutionally castrate Rapists
Countries which use chemical castration include Argentina, Australia, Estonia, Ukraine, Khazastan, Israel, Moldova, New Zealand, Poland and Russia.
Moldova legalised the practice in 2012 as a punishment against those convicted for child sex crimes.
Chemical castration is gaining popularity in the US
Earlier in June this year, Alabama signed a law requiring child sex offenders with victims younger than 13 to undergo castration as a condition of parole.
Source: UK Mirror
Image Credit: Getty Images
