Rape: Castration approved as Punishment for Rapists by State Assembly

The House of Assembly Kaduna State has approved castration as punishment for those convicted of rape.

This follows the passage of a bill to amend the Kaduna state penal court law, 2017, by the lawmakers.

The bill which was passed into law on Wednesday was announced by the assembly via its twitter handle.

“The Bill Recommend total Castration for Rapist in the State,” the assembly tweeted.

It was observed that the tweet was deleted shortly after it was posted but the majority leader of the assembly also tweeted about the development.

The bill to amend the Kaduna State Penal Court Law No.5 of 2017 was passed into law on the 09/09/2020 by@Kadlegislature. The Bill Recommend total Castration for Rapist in the State.

The state penal law currently provides for 21 years of imprisonment for rape of an adult and life imprisonment in the case of a child, but it is not clear if there are provisions against female rapists in the new bill.

The bill was passed about two months after the Governor Nasir el-Rufai, advocated a stiff punishment, lamenting that convicts often rape more persons after serving their jail term.

“In addition to life imprisonment or 21 years’ imprisonment, anyone convicted of rape will have his organ surgically removed so that even after he finishes his term, he will not be able to rape anyone again,” the governor stated.

“So long as the tool exists, there is the likelihood that he may go back to do it again. Most of the perpetrators are young people, so even after 21 years, they can come back and continue.”

He had also said the state would strike out completely the provision for bail conditions for rape convicts.

In June, Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police (IGP), said Nigeria recorded 717 rape cases within five months in 2020.

Recall that during one of their sittings a few months ago, the house of representatives rejected castration as punishment for rape after questions were raised on the fate of females convicted of the offence.