Following a recent spat of child rapes in Malaysia there are calls for the death penalty for rapists of children. One most horrendous case was of a school bus driver raping a 10-year-old girl.
The Malaysian Home Minister said that the death penalty may not deter future rapists.
Now, which law or which punishment can stop people from committing offences or crimes? The things to consider are if it can reduce the number of such crimes and whether the punishment fits the crime.
The death penalty also cannot stop people trafficking drugs or committing murders. But it makes would-be offenders think thrice and the punishment fits.
I believe most people who oppose the death penalty are kind folks whose reasons are based on religious or moral grounds. They do not wish to see another life taken no matter what despicable things the criminal did even if it happened to their own families. But I think all this is misplaced compassion.
