In the past few years, cases of sexual abuse and rapes of children have increased. Boys aged between six and 12 seem to feature predominantly as the victims. On a daily basis we read about these incidents in our local newspapers. Personally, I strongly feel that these incidents have increased only because of the lenient penal system in the Kingdom.
Criminals are getting away with the most heinous of crimes because of this. A prison sentence and few lashes will not change the character of criminals who feel they have a personal right to abuse and molest children.
The pain and scars that young children suffer generally do not heal. These sorts of crime haunt them for the entire duration of their lives. Mental and physical tortures are things that are hardly forgotten. The pain may even drive the abused to seek revenge and repeat the crime on other children as he or she grows up. This is especially the case if the abused person did not receive psychological and social support from their families.
Many rapists and abusers target youngsters who possess cell phones, especially expensive ones. Families give their children cell phones to maintain contact. When youngsters are out, child abusers, whose animal instincts push them to molest children, approach them by pretending they want to use their cell phones. Sometimes, they frighten vulnerable and gullible children by threatening to take away their cell phones. Within seconds, while the child is paralyzed in fear at the thought of losing his or her phone, the child is dragged into a nearby car and abused without anyone knowing.
Once the evil deed is done, the child may return to his or her family devastated and scarred. Sometimes the child may not even return unable to tolerate the abuse, or he or she may be dead while the evil act was being carried out.
Then, when the criminal is arrested (if he is), begins the second crisis. He is only sentenced to a few years in prison. As I mentioned previously, these years would never put the child at rest. The child would never recover easily from such a horrid and dreadful experience.
We are confronting a great danger that is ruining the innocence of our children. In the past, families used to panic about their little girls being abused and raped. Nowadays, sadly the fear has further been extended to include young and even teenage boys.
Boys generally leave home more than girls. They go shopping for their mothers and go to play soccer. A golden opportunity for people with twisted minds and ill desires to abuse them.
As parents, we should not accept a penalty less than what the Qur’an has mentioned: “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.” (Holy Qur’an 5:33)
We would like justice to be seen against these criminals so that we can feel safe every morning when our children leave home for school. The Saudi penal system needs to be strict and stern, like it once used to be, to deter criminals from committing the most horrid of crimes.
