Letters

'Diyat' better than death penalty

LETTERS: Replacing the mandatory death penalty with a jail sentence of 30 or 40 years, plus the possibility of whipping, is against the spirit of the abolition of the death penalty.

The legislation to abolish the death penalty is being debated in the Dewan Rakyat, where it is expected to be passed next week and sent to the Dewan Negara.

Too little time has been allocated for debate on the abolition of capital punishment.

It is hoped that the members of parliament will consider amendments and opt for a 15- to 20-year sentence and also cancel the minimum 12 strokes of the cane.

Whipping is a primitive punishment and should be abolished together with the death penalty.

It will be better to have the jail sentence reduced to give convicts a chance to reintegrate with society.

MPs need to give the proposals more serious thought as it is a historic legislation that will be in effect for decades to come.

There has been little or no debate about alternative forms of punishment.

Why wasn't the Islamic concept of diyat brought up as an alternative?

Diyat is a system of monetary compensation to a victim's family where death has occurred either intentionally or accidentally.

This is much better than the English law that Malaysia practises, where the victim's family gets nothing despite the offender going to jail or receiving the death sentence.

Malaysia does not have any system of compensation for criminal injuries or death.

Muslim MPs need to debate on this alternative.

Not providing better insights or ideas to this new legislation will mean that they will forego a good chance to add a more equitable form of justice to criminal punishment.

I refer to a case in Perak in December 2020 where an elderly Indian security guard was assaulted by a man for not allowing his child to use a swimming pool in a condominium.

The security guard died in hospital in August 2021.

The offender could be charged with a more serious crime that could end up with the death penalty.

Later, the deceased guard's wife visited the family of the offender.

She talked with the man's wife and found her to be remorseful and in a deprived situation as the breadwinner had been remanded.

Realising the situation, she was ready to forgive.

However, despite her sympathy for the family, she was not able to do anything as the law, as it is at present, has to take its course.

It is in a situation like this, especially for an accidental death that the diyat system can be used.

There's no point sentencing a person to death when there is a better alternative like a monetary compensation, especially for an accidental death.

The diyat system of monetary compensation must be included alongside the new legislation abolishing the death penalty. It can be used in all cases.

Our MPs have a historic opportunity not only to abolish the death penalty but also to replace it with humanitarian alternatives that will be lauded and appreciated by the international community.

Malaysia can also look into implementing the pardon system practised in some countries where many prisoners are either fully pardoned or have their prison terms reduced on important occasions, like National Day or the king's birthday.

V. THOMAS

Sungai Buloh, Selangor


The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times

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