In my previous post, I have discuss about the judicial system of Singapore and what are its advantages and disadvantages. Now I would like to discuss one particular case that my teacher pointed out when we are discussing the Merchant of Venice.

What if a guy who is mentally retarded rapes your sister? Should the judge be merciful? Or should he be sentenced like any male person? Should the judge be taught how to show mercy? Or should he just stick to the book?

Other men are able to think for themselves. They are mature in enough to have self-control over themselves and thus before they commit the act, they would be able to think deeply enough about the consequences and implications. If they still decided to commit the act, and are about 18 which is the age whereby you are considered “matured” enough to think for yourself, you will most probably face jail sentence and caning but if you are below the age of 18, you will most probably go to boy’s home and receive detention.

I feel that the guy should not be sentence like that same way as any other men. This is because I assume he is not mentally sound to think for himself. He would most probably be unable to exercise self-control and cannot think about the consequences and implication. He might think that it is the right thing to do or did it out of curiosity. It was not totally his fault because he is restricted by his handicap and we should at least empathize and sympathize with him.

However, if he raped my sister, I would have mixed feelings about it. It is neither here nor there. As much as I want to empathise and sympathise with him, I would definitely find myself siding my sister instead. Therefore, I am not in the right position to comment on it. But ultimately I will side my sister for sure.

Even though he is mentally unsound, he does not have the right to go about doing anything he like and anything he wants and when caught, give the excuse that he is mentally unsound and be let off lightly.

Furthermore, a judge is taught about the law but not taught how to show mercy. But even with that said, not all judges are heartless. I am sure that some would try to reach deeply into their heart, which has already tuned cold and hard because of the many experiences that they have gone through while being a judge, and try to empathise and sympathise with the mentally unsound person. Many judge do not usually sentence the person being charged to the maximum sentence but always evoke sympathy and be lenient towards them.

So, I would like to sign off with a few questions. If it is really your sister being raped by a mentally retarded person, what will you do? What will you do if you are the judge? Should we have a law to protect these handicapped people?