I am rather taken aback by this new penalty being implemented in the Penal Code; a maximum of 20 years of jail and whipping, for ‘raping’ one’s wife! It got me quickly thinking, do these lawmakers learn anything about humanity, at all? Have they really done their homework, get professional opinion from academicians and intellectuals? As much as I oppose to the method of the whipping punishment in this country, I oppose this latest addition into the Penal Code as well. This latest addition into the Penal Code will only help in breaking a family, rather than help prosper it.
There have been too many cases in this country where the policy makers try to solve a problem, but they fail to address the real underlying problem. Most of the time, they try to cure rather than prevent. And sometimes, even the ‘cure’ bring about more problems than they solve them.
I am not saying that I am in approval of a man ‘raping’ his wife. However, first of all, I believe the term ‘rape’ is unappropriate to be applied in the situation of a husband and a wife. In this country, we have our own traditions and values, so why should we follow those of the Western countries? Again, I am not saying that a husband can slap or punch his wife into having sex. True enough, it is an offence if a husband physically abuses his wife. However, 20 years of jail and whipping is outrageous!
The reason I am in great disapproval for the penalty is because the penalty will only add more trouble to the family. Think with a rational mind; what will happen to the family when the husband is kept locked up for 20 years? In most families, the husband is the one who support the whole family. Is it fair that because of a husband’s erroneous way to demanding something which he has right for, the whole family gets to live without strong financial support? Is it fair for the children who will have to live without their father for 20 years, or less than that even?
Added to that, there’s the whipping penalty. I have always been against the method used to whip people in this country. The whipping punishment in this country is a torture, something very inhumane that I find contradictory with the true values and teachings of Islam. In this country, a man will get the flesh on his buttocs ripped apart with just one whip! Just wonder, the whipping punishment will be done by whipping on the same spot! What happens to a man who gets whipped, apart from fainting due to the enormous pain, is that the man will almost certainly become impotent. What happens to the family then?
We have to see the problem that is happening in our society, in a family, as a failure of a whole system and not just an individual’s failure to act appropriately. We have to look first into the media, the education system, and the social environment before we look into the law. People behave unappropriately because they are not well-trained to do so. Look into our education system and I believe we can all agree that we are taught more about science and technology than about managing ourselves and our attitude.
All posts in this blog are my own personal views (unless explicitly mentioned otherwise) and are not to be associated with any organization or institution related to me.
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