A bill seeking to remove gender
restrictions for rape cases has passed second reading at the senate.
The bill, which seeks an
amendment to the criminal code act, 2004, also seeks to delete the statute of
limitation in cases of defilement.
The bill was sponsored by Oluremi
Tinubu, senator representing Lagos central.
Tinubu is seeking the removal of
gender restrictions on rape offences as well as a proposal of stiffer penalties
for kidnapping.
In her lead debate on the bill,
the senator objected to the provision of section 218 of the criminal code which
states that “anyone who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age
of thirteen or attempts same is guilty of felony and liable to life
imprisonment or fourteen years imprisonment, respectively.”
According to her, prosecution of
an offender under the section constitutes a limitation that should be extended
as against the act’s provision which allows for only two months after the
offence is committed.
“This is untenable in a country
where investigations often take longer than two months”, Tinubu said.
“Considering the shortage of
police personnel, relative to our population as prescribed by international
standards, the two months limitation is unlikely to be met at all.
“With the development and
innovation in forensic technology and the accessibility or otherwise of such
infrastructure in Nigeria, rushed investigations with a view to commencing
prosecutions within a two month period leave a possibility of a huge margin for
error.”
The bill also seeks an amendment
to section 221 of the criminal code which provides that “where a person has or
attempts carnal knowledge of a girl being of or above the age of thirteen and
under the age sixteen, an ‘idiot or imbecile’, he shall be liable to
imprisonment for a period of two years provided that the prosecution is
commenced within two months after the offence is committed.”
The senator described the
criminal code act which defines rape as an offence against women as “grievous”,
saying it perpetrates the socio-cultural belief that men do not need to consent
to sexual acts.
The lawmaker said “there are
incidents of non-consensual sex perpetrated against the male gender”.
The bill proposes an amendment to
section 221 to substitute words like “idiot or imbecile” with “mentally
challenged”.
Tinubu said while words like
idiot, moron, and imbecile were professionally used to measure intelligence
quotient (IQ), they have acquired pejorative connotations, become derogatory
and obsolete, and should no longer be contained in our laws.
Comparing the penalties for
kidnapping (imprisonment for a term of ten years) with that of robbery, which
is 21 years, Tinubu asked: “Why is the punishment for stealing property and
replaceable things higher than what is obtainable when you steal a human
being?”
“The frequency of kidnap across
the federation and its resulting trauma, not to mention the number of lives
lost to the crime, make it imperative to review our laws with a view to
ensuring appropriate punishment for perpetrators and deterrence for would-be
perpetrators.”
After the debate on the bill,
Senate President Ahmad Lawan referred it to the senate committee on judiciary,
human rights, and legal matters for further legislative work.
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