Read the news below...
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The Star
Friday April 6, 2012
Teacher jailed 4,500 years for indecency and rape
A COURT in Taiwan sentenced a man to 4,595 years in jail after finding him guilty on 1,010 counts of indecency and for raping 12 underage girls, Nanyang Siang Pau reported.
The accused Wang Yan-Ming, 46, operated a tuition sentre in Taizhung. It was reported that he would often take advantage of his female students while playing videos in an underground room.
He told his victims not to report to their parents as he would be "sentence to death".
In 2010, a 11-year-old rape victim told her mother she felt pain in her private parts. The girl told her what had happened and Wang was arrested.
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So, where is the justice??
I am no lawyer, but let me quote the Honorable J J Spigelman, Chief Justice of New South Wales, in his keynote address to The 31st Australian Legal Convention in Canberra on the October 9th, 1999. In his keynote address, he started off with this quote :
All lawyers will recognize the often cited aphorism of Lord Hewart from Rex v Sussex Justices; Ex parte McCarthy:
"... it is not merely of some importance but is of fundamental importance, that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done".
Now, let's go back to the news above. The convicted teacher, Wang, is already 46 years old now. Say he is healthy and got live up to be a 100. That means he would only serve 54 years from the total number of years he is supposed to serve. That is a mere 1% of the entire jail time sentenced on him.
So, once again I ask - where is the justice??
Is justice been done in this case?
Perhaps! Based on the current law practices in Taiwan.
But has it been manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done?
A mere 1% of the total sentence?... I don't see it at justice at all!!
The Central Intelligent Agency (CIA) of United States of America, estimated that current world average of human life expectancy is 67 years. And specifically in Taiwan, the average life expectancy there is 78.48 years.
So, let's revisit the earlier calculation.
Earlier we calculated on the assumption that he lives up to 100 years old. Re-do the math base of the average human life expectancy. He would only serve 0.7% of his entire sentence! Justice? I would say far from it...
My suggestion: Cases like this, we should review the law.
It's fine to sentence him with current law. So, in this case he would still be sentenced to 4,595 years of jail. But expand the law to take into account the natural life of a human being. Wang would only live for another 33 years, based on the average life expectancy in Taiwan. For the remaining years of his sentence, which is 4,562 years, he should be made to pay each year in cash value to the victims. If he can't afford it, declare him a bankrupt and auction his belongings (he is not ever coming back to his house anyway). If that is not enough, caning should be considered as well for such a gruesome crime.
My point is - review the law to ensure that it truly serve justice to the victims.
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