Russian legislators have advanced a bill that would tighten the laws related to sexual crimes against minors. Repeat offenders will now be facing a lifetime behind bars, reports RT.com.
The legislation, which introduces heavier penalties, including life sentences for repeat offenders previously convicted for sexually assaulting minors, was adopted in the first reading by Russia’s State Duma on Tuesday.
Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin hailed the bill’s progress and argued that life imprisonment was the only right way to deal with those preying on minors.
“A life sentence is a just measure to isolate the degenerates. They cannot be called humans, although they are in human form. We hope that this measure will protect children, families, and society as a whole from those who cause irreparable harm,” Volodin said in a Telegram post.
Under current Russian laws, repeat offenders who targeted minors below 14 years of age are eligible for prison terms ranging from 15 years behind bars to life behind bars. The revised legislation expands the liability to all the repeat offenders who targeted any minors younger than 18.
Life sentence is also introduced for serial pedophiles found guilty of raping or sexually assaulting two or more minors, as well as for cases aggravated by other serious crimes – such as murder or grievous bodily harm.
The minimum legal age for marriage in Russa is 18 for both men and women.
When one sees the seriousness with which other countries handle sexual assault and pedophilia, we are forced to consider the laxity Bharat’s criminal justice system shows towards such crimes, even after the horrific 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape which led to changes in anti-rape law and stiffening of penalties. While our weak and compromised policing is often called out in the media, and rightly so, what is swept under the carpet is the questionable role of the judiciary, an institution increasingly seen as disconnected, elitist and plagued with serious charges of impropriety including corruption.
In a 2016 article titled ‘Is Our Legal Framework Less Concerned About Sexual Crimes?‘, HinduPost had explored this issue, citing an example of a rapist, Saleem, who came out of jail in a mere 4 years after raping an 8-year-old, only to gang-rape a 10-year-old girl along with his cousin Junaid before brutally murdering her. More recently, we saw a case of a Malappuram govt. school teacher Ashraf arrested on POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) charges, for the third time in 10 years.
A few months back, a Russian lawmaker had put forward a draft bill that would block those convicted of shocking and violent crimes from speaking to journalists, writing memoirs or sharing their thoughts on social media for lengthy stretches of time.
In Bharat, mass media’s glamorization of crime has increased alarmingly, and news media’s soft portrayal of dangerous terrorists as ‘headmaster’s son’, ‘cricket lover’ etc is another issue. In the name of dissent or freedom of speech, all kinds of separatist and violent ideas are being mainstreamed.
Russian President Putin minced no words in a recent speech when he said that far-left woke ideology is causing societal ills in the West and destroying Western civilization. And indeed, what started in the West as a demand for humane treatment of homosexuals and trans people has now changed into something darker with attempts even to decriminalize pedophilia.
This is again an issue on which no Bharatiya leader of note has spoken with any clarity – another fallout of our chaotic democracy where the primary goal of most politicians is to somehow win the next election by pandering to vested interests. There is little time for civilizational goals and long-term policies.
