Proposal for 'chemical castration' for child molestation

At the conference of specialized National Assembly deputies giving opinions on the revised Penal Code (CPC) this morning, Deputy Luu Binh Nhuong suggested carefully studying the "chemical castration" option for the crime of child sexual abuse.

Commenting on Clause 2, Article 12 of the 2015 Penal Code regulating the scope of criminal responsibility of persons from 14 to under 16 years old, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly proposed two options to seek opinions from the National Assembly Deputies.

Option 1: Keep the draft law, according to which people from 14 to under 16 years old are only criminally responsible for very serious intentional crimes and especially serious crimes, but not criminally responsible for less serious crimes and serious crimes for the above three crimes.

Option 2: Keep as prescribed in the 2015 Penal Code. People from 14 to under 16 years old, in addition to being criminally responsible for very serious intentional crimes and especially serious crimes, must also be criminally responsible for both less serious crimes and serious crimes for 3 crimes:

Crime of intentionally causing injury or harm to the health of another person (Article 134), crime of rape (Article 141) and crime of kidnapping for the purpose of appropriating property (Article 169).

Previously, the results of the National Assembly's opinion poll at the second session showed that 266/397 National Assembly deputies agreed with the plan that it is still necessary to criminally prosecute people from 14 to under 16 years old for both less serious crimes and serious crimes such as intentionally causing injury or harm to the health of others, rape and kidnapping for the purpose of appropriating property.

Choose option 2?

Agreeing with option 2, Deputy Nguyen Ngoc Phuong (Quang Binh) said that at this age, people should be charged with 3 more crimes. Because crimes are getting younger recently, their nature is becoming more complicated, causing great outrage in society, so they must be severely punished and deterred.

Besides, Deputy Phuong said that in the trial process for this type of crime, there is also humaneness in the trial.

“Strictly handling this case is to build a good environment, so that children in this society can feel more secure. The reason is that the children are not aware of their actions. Children committing this crime is an exception, not normal, so it needs to be handled,” emphasized the Quang Binh delegate.

Delegate Phuong also requested clarification, is the best interest of this age group the majority or just one or two people? A few children causing social chaos, where is the best interest, a few individuals or the collective?

Regarding the crime of rape (Article 141), Deputy Phuong proposed to specify the level of violation.

Delegate Luu Binh Nhuong.

Sharing the same view, Deputy Luu Binh Nhuong emphasized that crimes at this age can have their punishment reduced but cannot be left unpunished. Otherwise, children will be tolerated, which is contrary to both theoretical and practical principles.

Agreeing with option 2, Deputy Nhuong said that recently the media has been outraged by the issue of child abuse.

"Yesterday, the investigation agency arrested both the grandfather and the biological father for sexually abusing their own children and grandchildren. This behavior goes against good customs and traditions, is a clear manifestation of incest, and is unacceptable," Deputy Luu Binh Nhuong emphasized.

Delegate Nhuong noted that recently there has been a proposal for "chemical castration", suggesting that this option should be carefully studied, and if it is sufficiently deterrent, it should be implemented.

According to Vietnamnet.vn