Jigawa State governor, Muhammad Badaru has assented to a bill stipulating stiffer punishment for rapists.
The new Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law stipulates the death penalty for rape convicts who infect their victims with HIV/AIDS.
The state House of Assembly had passed the bill last Wednesday and transmitted it to the governor for assent.
While assenting to the bill, Wednesday, Badaru commended the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Musa Aliyu, and the state’s Council of Ulamas for their collaboration leading to the passage of the bill.
The governor said he assented to the bill after consultation with the Council of Ulamas who assured him that no section of the law is in conflict with Islam and the culture of the people of Jigawa State.
The law, expected to be gazetted soon, also stipulates that the Sharia law will take precedence if any matter in the new law contradicts Islamic teachings.
Also the law says the use of chemical, biological or any harmful substance that causes lifetime deformity to a rape victim will attract life imprisonment without an option of fine.
The bill is an adaptation of a similar bill passed by the National Assembly and adopted by some state Houses of Assembly. The bill also proscribes certain conducts that are injurious to the society.
It also seeks to offer protection to the vulnerable in the society.
The bill was unanimously passed by the 30 members of the legislative house representing the 27 council areas of the state.
While there are some aspects of the bill that bears similarities to the bill passed by Kaduna State House of Assembly, and assented to by the governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, the Kaduna bill however advocates for surgical castration and bilateral salpingectomy for male and female convicts of child rape, and death in some cases.
In addition, such convicts will be listed in the Sex Offenders Register to be published by the Attorney-General of the state.
