Statutory rape - twisted logic from warped minds

YOURSAY ‘If there were an Olympic competition for judicial crassness, this would surely be a medal-winning performance.'

What price justice?

Boiling Mud: When a proven and convicted rapist can be let off so lightly with the warped justice that a jail term is not in the public interest as the offender has a promising future as a tenpin bowling champion, it says a lot about the gross lack of moral discipline among some of the judges and the judiciary system as a whole.

The right-thinking Malaysians cannot possibly be proud of being represented by a convicted rapist in any bowling tournaments outside the country.

So, does it mean that all our Malaysian athletes who have won medals from regional and international events can go ahead to commit heinous crimes and be let off with a fine of dua puluh lima ribu ringgit? Such twisted logic from warped minds!

Tailek: The chief justice (CJ) or attorney-general (AG) should call up this case for a review and at the same time the CJ should castigate the three Court of Appeal judges for coming up with such a perverse ruling.

If the accused was a nobody, he would have received a hefty jail sentence. I guess if you are a famous sportsperson or a chief minister, you can get away with statutory rape with a soft rap on the knuckles. Shameful.

MfM: The AG had better appeal this case and get the acquittal overturned. Even a suspended sentence would have been better than this stupid judgment. There is no such thing in the law as consensual sex with a minor. That's why it's called 'statutory rape'.

I don't give a damn if this guy is going to be a future gold medal winner for Malaysia or even a future Nobel Prize laureate. Nobody in their right mind would even consider having this 'acquitted' alleged rapist in their employ.

NMNT: Yeah right, bright future? Not much of it any more, he is on high alert internationally. Guaranteed visa rejects, so how to compete?

Do we trust the law to be applied impartially, regardless who and what the offender status in Malaysia is? No way. Another Janji Ditepati.

Hang Babeuf: The principle that statutory rape is categorically an offence, no matter if the minor consented, is one that the judiciary should respect and uphold.

Any clemency that is extended or mitigation that may be accepted should be upon the basis of that principle, not upon any weakening or subverting judicial support for it.

But I fear that the temptations of international recognition and success, of some vindication of the ‘Malaysia Boleh!' mantra, can override justice and legal principles.

Something is seriously amiss when senior judges of a higher court of review can make a decision like this one and then seek to justify it as they have. The situation that they have produced dishonours the nation.

Forget about badminton hero Lee Chong Wei's winning dignity in an agonising loss. If there were an Olympic competition for judicial crassness, this would surely be a medal-winning performance. When it comes to this kind of national disgrace, "Malaysia Boleh!"

Odin: Let us assume that the act was indeed consensual, for, judging from past news reports, there are promiscuous underaged girls. If it was so, then the girl would suffer no distress or trauma.

But the point is that statutory rape is still rape - that rape has taken place and the punishment for it is already established. The punishment stipulated should apply to any convicted person regardless of his status. The judges have certainly failed to execute their responsibilities.

Caesar's Wife: I agree heartily with Klang MP Charles Santiago's suggestion. Let us call on all child rights advocates, human rights organisations and civil society to protest this shameful judgment. Not only the accused but the also judges responsible for the judgment must be held accountable.

Mosquito: A promising future? Imagine the headline, "Malaysia sends rapist to world bowling championship". Now that would make us proud.

Paul Warren: Mosquito, the headline should read, "Malaysia sends child rapist to world bowling championships".

Kgen: National athletics coach C Ramanathan was jailed four years for molesting two underaged athletes by giving them a massage at the Asian junior Athletics Championship in New Delhi in 1992 (Court of Appeal later slashed his jail term to one year).

If this is the sentence for molest, why is the sentence for rape so lenient? What happened to coach Ramanathan's bright future after he was jailed?

To my knowledge, there are only two levels of appeal. Since this case started at the Sessions Court, it can appeal to the High Court and ends at the Court of Appeal, and as such it is no longer appealable in the Federal Court.

The bowler can sleep in peace. However, society should castigate and hound him until he wished he were in jail.

Onyourtoes: If you are observant enough, you will notice the impressive court complexes all over the country - yes, impressive courthouses with empty justice within.

Justice Pao: Only in Malaysia can so much harm done to the judicial system with so many tainted rulings by these few judges. How can this rapist represent Malaysia and compete on the international stage without embarrassing Malaysia as a country that condones statutory rape?

Ferdtan: The Court of Appeal was led by the president himself, Raus Md Sharif, and his fellow judges, KN Segara and Ahar Ma'ah. It was an unanimous decision, meaning no dissenting judgment.

Please don't hold your breath for thinking the Syariah Court may come to rescue the young girl. It may turn out to be opposite of what you would expect.

She may be charged with zina (illegal sex); following the kind of warping justice we saw in the strange case of a Muslim employee of Borders Bookstore, Nik Raini, been arrested and charged by Jawi (a unit of PM's department) for selling purportedly banned books which was not officially announced at the point of the arrest.

Our judges don't know, or have forgotten, the meaning of justice. They see things differently, looking down from their perch with the trappings of upper-class life, the pull of power and fame.

Changeagent: Now I can fully understand why ex-Malacca CM Rahim Thamby Chik was never charged with raping an underaged girl in 1994. He, too, had a very promising future then.

Fadlullah Wilmot: Where are the ‘fighters' of Islam? Where is your outrage? Perkasa? Utusan Malaysia? Anyone? Your silence is deafening.