KUALA LUMPUR: The draft to the amendments to Section 375 of the Penal Code which widens the definition of rape is in the final stages and expected to be tabled in Parliament in the coming session.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said the Attorney-General’s Chambers had informed that the draft was almost finalised and the process of engagement with outside and interested parties was still being conducted.
“We hope more amendments to the laws relating to the crime of rape will be finalised as soon as possible, and presented to the Parliament,” she told reporters here yesterday.
She added that in the present era of technology, there are many objects which could be inserted into the vagina, referring to the case of a 60-year-old man who was acquitted from the charge of raping a 14-year-old teenager.
The Court of Appeal on May 7 acquitted the accused as the man had only inserted his finger which was smeared with semen into the victim’s vagina and there was no penile penetration.
In connection to this, Nancy said the government had decided to amend the section to extend the definition of rape by taking into account the act of inserting an object or other organs besides the penis.
Earlier, she visited the Ceramics Arts Exhibition organised by the Women’s Aid Organisation at the Publika shopping complex in Hartamas Height here. — Bernama