Justice Peru's president calls for the death penalty for child rape
Following the murder of an allegedly sexually abused 12-year-old girl, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has called for the reintroduction of the death penalty for the rape of children. This was abolished in Peru in 1979.
11.12.2024, 02:37
SDA
"The time has come for us to propose drastic measures in the face of events of this magnitude, which should be unimaginable in a society," Boluarte declared on Tuesday. It was time to open the debate on the death penalty for child rapists.
On Sunday, police found the body of a missing twelve-year-old girl wrapped in blankets and rugs under the bed of her suspected murderer in a poor district of the Peruvian capital Lima. The public prosecutor's office declared that it had opened an investigation into the murder and rape of a minor.
"We cannot allow people like this to roam the streets freely," the president continued. "We cannot show any consideration for those who dare to touch our children, who are the most sacred and inviolable thing for our Peruvian families."
Peruvian law provides for life imprisonment for violence against minors under the age of 14. A reintroduction of the death penalty would be highly controversial and would require a change to the country's constitution. Since 1995, the country's parliament has rejected at least eight bills aimed at doing so.
