Rape Is Rape

A few months back I criticised a Malay TV drama about how a rape victim marries the rapist and implying that it is alright and love between the victim and the rapist would eventually grow.  That is the kind of TV programme that is being forced down the throat of the people nowadays.

No wonder I see dumb people walking everywhere, students barely out of their teens dumping babies.

Then I saw the following:

Shabudin Yahya, the Member of Parliament for Tasek Gelugor was objecting to an amendment to the Child Sexual Offences Bill which was being proposed by DAP’s Teo Nie Cheng who wanted the bill to also include the invalidity of child marriages.

The former Syariah Court judge said that girls between the ages of nine and twelve are physically and spiritually ready for marriage.

He explained further that it is not fair to assume that a rapist would continue being a bad person.

“Maybe he repents, or regrets.  Marriage can be an exit clause for this problem. A wife who was raped , if she can marry the rapist she would not go through a bleak future. At least she has someone who can become her husband. This will be a remedy for social problems.”

Both my Facebook and Twitter timelines exploded with people in rage over the MP’s comment and invited a tweet from a liberal.

Then came this person trying to defend the indefensible:

For the benefit of all including the MP and his supporters, the government was being responsible by proposing a bill to protect minors from sexual predators.  Many do not understand that although the consensual age for sex in Malaysia is 16 by birth date and above, those below 18 are legally minors!  The MP’s statement is tantamount to inviting predators to have consensual sex with minors and then “repent” and marry their victim(s).  One cannot get anymore disgusting than that.

If the rapist is irresponsible enough to rape a minor, how can he/she be a responsible husband/wife?

It does not matter if the MP was a Syariah Court judge. He should know that he was in Parliament and every word would be scrutinised.  In times when people doubt the dual-legal system that has been around since the birth of Malaysia, comments from Shabudin certainly adds fuel to the fire of fear against Islam.

Fellow MP and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan expressed his disappointment in a statement posted on his social media accounts:

Rape is rape.  There is no beauty that comes out of rape.  Therefore, Shabudin should apologise in Parliament and in a press conference without making any attempt to defend his stupidity and beg for the Speaker of the House to strike his statement off the Hansard.

I cannot for my life believe that people are still capable of making stupid statements right under the public’s nose.