Ghanaian comedian Derrick Kobina Bonney, popularly known as DKB, has mooted that it is high time Ghana adopted Sharia law for sexual offenses like rape.
According to the ‘King of Comedy,’ Sharia Law would serve as a deterrent to people who forcefully have carnal knowledge of others.
He made this comment on the back of the high rate of defilement cases in the country.
“Sharia law might be crude and extreme but thinking about it, it serves the culprit the same diner he served the victim. If your manhood is cut off for defiling a minor to the point of needing surgery, you will get to understand what you also put the victim’s life into,” he told Citi Showbiz.
He further explained that he loves Sharia Law for sexual offense because it is ‘a no excuse’ kind of law which involves punishments that would prevent perpetrators of crimes such as defilement and rape.
What is Sharia Law?
Sharia is the law of Islam. It is cast from Prophet Mohammed’s words, called hadith, his actions, called sunnah, and the Qur’an, which he dictated.
Sharia law itself cannot be altered, but the interpretation of Sharia law, called fiqh, by muftis (Islamic jurists) is given some latitude.
As a legal system, Sharia law is exceptionally broad. While other legal codes regulate public behaviour, Sharia law regulates public behaviour, private behaviour, and even private beliefs.
Compared to other legal codes, Sharia law also prioritises punishment over rehabilitation, and the penalties under Sharia law favour corporal and capital punishments over incarceration.
Of all legal systems in the world today, Sharia law is deemed the most intrusive and restrictive, especially against women.
Some Sharia punishments
Punishments of Sharia Law range from lashes, cutting of a culprit’s hand, to death.
In some jurisdictions, those who commit adultery will be stoned to death if the adulterer was married and lashed 100 times and exiled if he or she was unmarried.
Those engaged in sodomy (homosexuality) will be sentenced to death, along with those who ‘spy for the unbelievers’.
Those who steal ‘as part of banditry’ will have their right hand and left leg cut off, and the punishment for terrorising people is exile.
Rape is completely forbidden in Islamic law, and is a crime punishable by death.
In Islam, capital punishment is reserved for the most extreme crimes which harm individual victims or destabilise society. Rape falls into both of these categories.
Islam takes very seriously the honour and protection of women. The Qur’an repeatedly reminds men to treat women with kindness and fairness. Rape is a horrible crime which causes a women humiliation and physical harm.
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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana