ABUJA - Chairman, House Committee on Human Rights, Hon. Beni Lar, said,
Wednesday, that rapists would face life imprisonment once the current
Violence Against Persons Bill becomes law.
Lar, who made this
known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja,
said the National Assembly had decided to expedite action on the passage
of the bill, considering the increasing prevalence of molestation in
the country.
She pointed out that the bill would not only protect
molestation victims but equally provide protection for victims of
violence including physical, intimate, psychological, domestic, harmful
traditional practices and discrimination.
She said: "My only
concern is that in our laws today, the punishment for molestation is
very light and that is why you find people committing molestation
against children. It's unfortunate.
"It is because of issues like
this that it has come to the attention of the National Assembly that we
have the Violence Against Persons Bill.
"It is a bill that seeks
to eliminate violence in private and public life, to prohibit all forms
of violence including physical, intimate, psychological, domestic,
harmful traditional practices, discrimination against persons and
provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and
punishment for offenders.
"Part one of this bill, which has
passed second reading in the House, defines a Molester as one who
intentionally violates another person and the conviction for this
offence is life imprisonment.
"The National Assembly is seeking
to stiffen punishment for molestation because the punishment has been so
light. People feel they can do it easily and get away with it but once
this bill is passed you would think twice before committing molestation
because they can go to jail for life."
No comments:
Post a Comment