Adultery causes irreparable damage

With regard to the article by Nurrohman titled Be careful criminalizing adultery (The Jakarta Post, June 16), I wonder what more sinful act of cheating can be committed. Should the fact that it is committed in secret allow it to be categorized as private and thus remove it from the ambit of the criminal law?

It may not call for the death penalty, but adultery, if Nurrohman has not yet figured it out, is a crime against the family, which should be condemned and criminalized regardless of how it was committed. It is worse than stealing someone else's property.

How many lives have been lost, not because of capital punishment but rather jealous partners, and dreams shattered because of this despicable act? The damage it does is often irreparable as the shattered lives of those betrayed may never mend.

As the saying goes, "Law controls the lesser man. Proper conduct controls the greater one." No laws would be needed if we all could behave ourselves, even when no one is looking.

S.W. TJAHJONO, Jakarta