The Kaduna State House of Assembly in north-west Nigeria has approved full surgical castration as punishment for those convicted of defiling children under 14.
The state commissioner for women’s affair and social development, Hafsat Baba, described the approval by the assembly as a “welcome development” adding that the law will serve as a “deterrent” for rapists.
State governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, who has previously supported castration to prevent rapists from repeating the offense, will now need to sign the bill to become law in the state.
The move comes just a public outcry erupted over a wave of rape cases which prompted the Nigerian state governors to declare a state of emergency in June.
At the moment, the state penal law provides for 21 years of imprisonment for the rape of an adult and life imprisonment in defilement cases of children.
For the last five years since the new law was introduced, about 40 rape suspects have been charged, according to the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (Naptip), which consists of sex offenders on its website.
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The law widened the scope under which sexual offenses could be penalized in the country with over 200 million people and omitted the time limit of two months during which rape cases had to be tried before they become ineligible to be heard in the court.
The number of successful prosecutions of rape offenders remains low and stigma often hinders victims from reporting incidents.
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