The president of Peru proposes to introduce the death penalty for rapists of children

Peruvian President Dina Baluarte proposed this Tuesday the death penalty for child rapists after the killing of a 12-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted over the weekend in a poor neighborhood of Lima.

A hard-liner on crime, the conservative president confirmed that “the time has come” to discuss reinstating capital punishment, which was abolished in 1979 and for decades reserved for crimes such as treason and aggravated murder.

“The time has come that in the face of events of this magnitude, which should be unimaginable in society, we propose decisive measures; “It’s time to start a debate about the death penalty for child rapists,” Boluarte said.

During a public ceremony in front of Peru’s air force, the president expressed her outrage at the killing of a girl whose body was found on Sunday in the Vila María del Triunfa neighborhood in the south of the Peruvian capital.

The juvenile was reported missing on Saturday. His body was wrapped in blankets and rugs under the bed of the 26-year-old alleged attacker, identified as Gerson Juarez, who was taken into custody by police, according to authorities.

This Tuesday, a judge in Lima ordered preventive detention for seven days against the suspect, the judiciary said on its social media.

“We cannot allow such boys to walk freely in the streets (…) We must not have any contemplation with those who dare to touch our boys and girls, who are the most sacred and inviolable for our Peruvian families”, – he emphasized.

The death penalty can only be reinstated through constitutional reform approved by Congress. The initiative, however, would contradict the international obligations that Peru has undertaken to protect human rights and against this type of punishment.

Since 1995, the Legislature has rejected at least eight bills aimed at reinstating the death penalty.

Current legislation provides for life imprisonment for rapists of minors under the age of 14.

According to the National Penitentiary Institute, 8,491 people are currently serving sentences for this crime.

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