Independent Senator calls for licks for certain crimes

INDEPENDENT Senator Anthony Vieira on Tuesday called for the return of flogging, as a punishment for and deterrent to crime, chiefly acts of domestic violence. He spoke in the Senate on a private motion by Opposition Senator Saddam Hosein which called on Government to be condemned for its failure to deal with crime.

“One of the reasons people fall in line in Singapore is that there is a physical consequence for anti-social behaviour," Vieira said.

“So perhaps we should follow Singapore in making greater use of the Corporal Punishment Offenders Over 18 Act which allows High Court judges to impose sentences of flogging to any male offender over 18, after being convicted.”

Vieira suggested magistrates also be empowered to order strokes and that environmental offences be deemed eligible crimes for such punishment.

“Child abuse, domestic violence – licks for anybody who wants to lash woman (sic) – who rob and beat old people, or who sexually molest a child,” Vieira said.

Singapore made world headlines when its authorities caned US teen Michael P Fay with four strokes of a rattan cane in 1994 for alleged vandalism and theft. In that same year, there was outrage in TT after judge, Lennox Deyalsingh (now deceased) ordered businesswoman Myra Bhagwansingh to receive ten strokes with the cat-o-nine as part of her punishment for disfiguring a former business partner.

Bhagwansingh, a mother of four, threw acid on Raffick Mohammed leaving him with permanent disabilities. The businesswoman was also ordered jailed for 12 years. The whipping aspect of her sentence, was thrown out on appeal.

The Corporal Punishment Offenders Over 18 Act which was passed in 1953 and updated to 2016, refers to flogging using the cat-o-nine-tails. It says a court may impose up to 20 strokes by the cat-o-nine-tails, known as a flogging, or alternatively order a whipping by cane (birch), of up to 20 strokes.

“The instrument to be used for carrying out a sentence of flogging shall be the ordinary cat-o-nine tails and for carrying out a sentence of whipping a rod of tamarind, birch or other switches or in either case such other instrument as the President may from time to time approve,” the Act states.

The Act says corporal punishment can be imposed for six crimes: wounding with a firearm or a sharp or pointed object or any other weapon likely to do grievous bodily harm; assault using a corrosive fluid or a destructive or explosive substance with intent to disfigure or do grievous bodily harm; robbery with violence or aggravation; rape; attempted robbery or rape; and incest.

Vieira reasoned, “Promptness and certainty of punishment also affects criminal behaviour. If an offender is punished soon after committing a crime, both the specific deterrence of the individual concerned and the general deterrence of the public tends to be greater than if the offender is not punished until years later.”

Saying potential offenders think twice if they know they are not facing a fine and a slap on the wrist, he said the sentence should always fit the crime including a wide range of options. He urged reform of the criminal justice system whose specifics he said can push first time offenders into criminal careers or can deter them from further crime.

Vieira said punishment cannot be the be all and end all but must be supplemented by crime prevention, restorative justice and social rehabilitation.

“Is it not time to consider national service for our young men who are not studying or in full time employment? Should we have boot camps designed to get offenders away from crime, gangs and bad influences, by subjecting them to discipline, rigorous exercise, Civics appreciation and strenuous work?” Vieira also urged the social causes of crime such as bad housing and a lack of male role models for boys be remedied.