Law and conscience<\/p>\n
The Jakarta metropolitan police deserve honors for arresting a
\ngang of brutal rapists in a village near Bekasi, 20 kilometers
\nsoutheast of here, on Wednesday. The 10 young men will face
\ncharges of robbery and raping a housewife and her two underage
\ndaughters after tying up the father in the same house.<\/p>\n
If hearing is believing, the police this time have worked
\nprofessionally, without trying to extract confessions by illegal
\nmeans. Instead, good detective work and modern laboratory
\ntechnology were fully utilized. The 100-member police team
\nworking on the case labored day and night until results were
\nobtained. The suspects were released soon after they were taken
\ninto custody, but were arrested again later after the officers
\nhad acquired enough evidence to support the charges.<\/p>\n
The robbery and gang rape in Bekasi have sent shock waves
\nthrough many parts of this country. President Soeharto, shocked
\nto hear of the increase in the rate of brutal crimes, has urged
\nthe authorities to put a stop to the trend. People from all walks
\nof life have condemned the rapists and expressed sympathy for the
\nfamily. Oddly, nothing has been heard from any of our women's
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
Sadly, additional rape cases have already been reported since
\nthe Bekasi tragedy, a sign that rapists do not feel threatened by
\nthe existing law and much less by the public's anger. The
\nproblem, then, is how to curb the apparently rising tide of
\nbarbarism. Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi said last week
\nthat rapists deserved the death penalty and experts have written
\narticles discussing this most loathsome attack on women from
\nvarious points of view. Jurists have reminded the nation that our
\nlaw on rape needs to be revamped to include a suitable minimum
\njail term for rapists.<\/p>\n
Fury and rage, however, will not solve this social problem.
\nJudges also need to be awakened to the gravity of rape, whose
\nvictims and their families can be traumatized for life. Despite
\nthe age of the victims or the brutality of the rape, judges have
\nrarely, if ever, handed down the maximum 12-year prison sentence
\nfor rape.<\/p>\n
In the past, court verdicts were typically not criticized by
\nthe public. After all, judges are free within the boundaries of
\nthe law to use their good sense. Now, however, what if this runs
\nagainst the public's sense of justice? As things stand at
\npresent, nobody seems to have the authority to answer this
\nquestion.<\/p>\n
Common sense, however, rules that even a judge's conscience
\nmust have an acceptable standard. So, as many people see it,
\njudges must not be too lenient and hand down sentences that
\nperhaps nobody but themselves can understand.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/law-and-conscience-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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