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Punishment for the rapist
IN the animal kingdom, there is nothing like rape, defilement or sexual assault. Every aspect of life is excessively democratised and so liberalised that licentious behaviour bordering on sexual aggressions is regarded as part of normal living. A nanny-goat for instance which is always sexually harassed by a bearded and moustache he-goat has no way of seeking redress. Who would listen to it?
In human society, this is not so. The human being is a social animal guided by rules, norms, conventions, morals and folk ways. As such, the human male who goes about bleating, stamping and sniffing around females like a stubborn he-goat does, is well-nigh insane. He is only fit for an animal farm.
Because human society is sane and well organised, wayward behaviour like rape, which is accepted and even commended in animal society, is regarded as a grievous offence. Defilement cannot be tolerated and a lawless society is generally detested and frowned upon.
I even hear that in a certain remote village in Sikaman, it is an offence for a man to deliberately touch the buttocks of a girl or woman. A fine of one sheep and a bottle of schnapps is the punishment for such offence. This decree is quite revolutionary!
GRATIFICATION
It is so very unfortunate that the female species of all living organisms are vulnerable to assault by their male counterparts who are perpetually seeking gratification of their sexual urges.
Females, normally referred to as the weaker sex, have had to contend with aggressive male behaviour to the very extent that at workplaces, girls and married women are targets of sexually-motivated aggression.
The worse form of aggression on women is rape, and in Sikaman today, rape is one of the leading crimes being tried at the courts and public tribunals.
Not too far back, an 80-year-old man in northern Sikaman was reportedly jailed for rape. At eighty and still raping is an incredible achievement, but on the contrary very infamous.
The media also reported on a man, married with three wives who was incarcerated for raping a girl who came to his veranda to escape the rain falling at the time.
The GNA recently reported that on January 21, three fishermen at Keta allegedly lured a 13-year-old girl into a room and “forcefully seduced her.” The case is being tried by the Volta Regional Tribunal, and one of the accused, Amenehu alias ‘Alhaji’ of Angola is at large.
The latest and perhaps the most serious is a rape case being tried by the Greater Accra Regional Tribunal. A married T.V mechanic is alleged to have raped a 3 and a half-year-old girl? The girl demonstrated to the tribunal how she was seduced.
It is not understandable why married men are mostly found in the rape business. Obviously, they were not sexually starved. They are just being wicked.
CONVICTED RAPISTS
Rape in certain societies is regarded so seriously that capital punishment is prescribed for convicted rapists. In Saudi Arabia where strict Islamic laws prevail, a convicted rapist will surely forfeit his head after the Friday prayer session.
In Iran, it would be a neck-tie death day party organised in honour of the rapist. He’ll dangle by the neck at the gallows. In China, a single shot through the back of the head is all a rapist needs to become a good fellow.
After this sort of punishment, he can never dream of raping the most provocative Madonna unless he reincarnates. Dead men don’t rape!
A news report coming from China told the story of relatives and neighbours of a rape victim who took the law into their own hands and forcibly caught and castrated the rapist and displayed his testicles in a jar. I should think that this kind of punishment is more severe than facing the firing squad.
Aside any moral considerations, however, this type of punishment look quite effective. A castrated rapist is no danger at all to organised society. Fact is that he can bark but he can’t bite. Even a strip-tease dancer can no longer arouse him. And sooner or later he will grow so fat and oily that he’d become more famous as a super-heavyweight than as a dreaded rapist.
In a certain US community, the incidence of rape in 1987 was getting so high that a debate was organised and a vote was taken in whether or not castration of rapists should be a suitable punishment.
Naturally, most of the females voted for castration, arguing that a rapist without BALLS fits so well into society. He becomes a round jolly fellow who poses no danger at all. A thousand women can sleep peacefully beside him and not risk the slightest show of aggression.
TOOTHLESS BULLDOGS
The women further referred to the Holy Bible where they claim it is written that eunuchs (castrated men) had special duties including taking charge of women. And in certain kingdoms, eunuchs are assigned to bathe the queen because they are so harmless, just like toothless bulldogs. They also referred to castrated goats as very sober and inferred from this fact that a castrated rapist would be even more sober.
On the contrary, almost all the men voted against castration. They argued that women are responsible for sexually aggressive behaviour put up by men. They contend that the lewd suggestiveness of the dressing of women and girls and the provocative way they carry themselves about induce the call for rape.
They also argued on ethical grounds that a man who is deprived of his most cherished asset-his sexual power is not proper, especially when women induce him to misbehave.
In Sikaman, one can put up such arguments that some of our ladies, disregard the decency of our culture and dress to make themselves voluptuous and attract the eye of harmless observers and rapists alike.
In any case, however, the punishment meted out to rapists, I dare say, is not deterrent enough, considering the extent of harm they cause to their victims. Some rape victims are emotionally wrecked all through their lives. Some cannot bear the disgrace if being called a rape victim.
Others even attempt to commit suicide, and some still can never get married because they become forever scared of men. They also become sexually frigid, and why should the rapist be jailed for only a few years for wrecking the life of a fellow being. I am against castration, though.
This article was first published
on Saturday, November 10, 1990.
MerariAlomele’s
Merari Alomele’s
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In Sikaman, one can put up such arguments that some ladies, disregard the decency of our culture and dress to make themselves voluptuous and attract the eye of harmless observers and rapists alike.
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Your Weekend Companion
www.spectator.com.gh
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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