Indonesia to punish child rapists with chemical castration

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued a regulation Wednesday that provides tougher penalties for child rapists, including chemical castration and the death penalty.

He said the administrative order is a response to increasing sexual violence against children.

“I have declared that sexual offences against children are an extraordinary crime, because they threaten and endanger the lives of children,” Jokowi said.

“An extraordinary crime deserves an exceptional response,” he said. “Therefore, this regulation imposes heavier punishments and additional measures for the perpetrators of the violence.”

Demands for harsher punishments have increased following the rape and murder of a teenage girl by 14 men in western Indonesia last month.

The new regulation amends a Child Protection Law issued in 2002 that carried a maximum 15-year prison sentence for persons having intercourse with a minor.

Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said Tuesday that the regulation provides greater punishments for offenders as well as psychosocial therapy for victims and their families.

She said the punishments include chemical castration for pedophiles, the use of electronic monitoring bracelets, and publication of offender identities.