De facto Law Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz insisted today that the government will go ahead with an amendment to remove judicial discretion in handing out sentences relating to statutory rape.
"At the end of the day, the buck stops with me. Parents will say that as minister, I am the one with the capacity to protect their children.
"That's why I have no hesitation to go ahead with this amendment," Nazri told journalists at his office in Parliament House this afternoon.
He said this after meeting a coalition of women rights NGOs that tried to convince him not to go ahead with the amendment.
The government plans to amend Section 376 of the Penal Code concerning statutory rape to prevent judges from using Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to replace the mandatory five years' jail sentence with a bond for good behaviour.
Brushing aside the NGOs' concern that in cases of teenage sex, young offenders may receive heavy sentences, Nazri said, "...the present Section 376 is to protect young girls, that's it. Full stop."
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