Charge sex offenders again, says MCA’s Heng

PETALING JAYA: The principles of double jeopardy should not apply for sex offenders, to keep them away from children and underage girls, says Wanita MCA chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie.

Commenting on what she called outrage and anxiety among Malaysians over the deportation of convicted serial rapist Selva Kumar Subbiah from Canada back to Malaysia, she said Wanita MCA wanted the double jeopardy clause waived for such offenders, especially paedophiles.

Double jeopardy is a procedural defence that disallows an accused person from being tried again on the same or similar charges and on the same facts, following a valid acquittal or conviction.

“Wanita MCA is gravely concerned that Selva Kumar may end up as another Richard Huckle roaming and lurking on our streets, in particular, among the illiterate and destitute,” she said in a media statement yesterday.

Owing to this, she said “although they have served time behind bars abroad for offences committed overseas, they must face similar charges and conviction on home soil”.

While acknowledging that the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s assurance that police will keep tabs on Selva Kumar, Heng said there are no laws to restrict his movement.

“We recommend that legislation be enacted to disallow convicted rapists, sexual molesters, paedophiles, in short, any sex offender, from being in the same enclosed premises with underage children,” she said.

Datuk Heng Seai Kie

She added that the law should also include a restraining order to ensure convicted sex deviants maintain a minimum distance from their victims.

Heng noted that there could be circumstances to allow freedom of movement of such offenders in specific places only under supervision of appointed officers.

“Where necessary, sex offenders should be made to wear a tracking device,” she said, adding that sex grooming of minors must also be made a crime.

Wanita MCA recommended that courses be conducted in upper primary or lower secondary schools to teach students to be alert for signs of sexual grooming.

Heng also called for the implementation of the Sex Offenders’ Registry but cautioned that society must not resort to vigilantism once they discover a sex offender in their midst.

Selva Kumar will be back in the country in two days after serving a 24-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting dozens of women in Toronto.