Death Penalty, Chemical Castration for Child Rapists in Indonesia

Previously, the maximum sentence for rape, of either an adult or a child, was 14 years in jail.

A vigil held for the 14-year-old girl who brutally gang-raped and murdered in Indonesia. (Photo: AP)

Child sex abuse is now punishable by death and chemical castration in Indonesia after President Joko Widodo issued a new law following the brutal gangrape and murder of a 14-year-old girl.

The battered body of the victim was discovered, naked and tied up, in a forest on the island of Sumatra after she was attacked by a group of teenagers in April. Seven offenders have been jailed for 10 years.

Sexual violence against children, as I have said, is an extraordinary crime. We hope that this law will be a deterrent for offenders and can suppress sexual crimes against children. 

<b>President Joko Widodo</b>

The law is effective immediately, although Indonesia’s parliament has the power to overturn it or demand revisions.

These acts threaten and endanger children, and they destroy the lives and development of children for the future.

<b>President Joko Widodo</b>

Chemical castration is a legal form of punishment in South Korea, Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as in some US and Australian states.