The mind just boggles! What next? So a 63-year-old granddad, who raped his three granddaughters, two of whom were aged six and eight, and pleaded guilty in the process, is nameless.
Why is there no National Sex Offenders List in these islands? Are we not just opening the floodgates for further cases of incest and paedophilia?
What about tagging these perverts, naming and shaming them, or else, offering them chemical castration?
Surely, the answer is for the Law Courts to ban the publishing of the culprits’ relationship to the victims, rather than his name.
With all due respect, with the way the law presently stands in Malta, it encourages the rape of a family, rather than a non-family member. One will remain nameless in the former, but not in the latter case. Absolutely shocking!
To add insult to injury, some weeks ago the Commissioner of Police made public the name of a person who was still simply “being investigated” in connection with the alleged corruption of his daughter.
This is the unfortunate person who died while in police custody. Here, no concern for either the anonymity of the deceased or the poor child, was shown! My late and lamented dear father and former Police Commissioner Commendatore Alfred John Bencini, always used to drum into my head, the fact that everybody was presumed innocent until proved guilty.
In the meantime, we recently read in the newspapers, that
a man, Adrian Ellul from Kercem has been accused of raping a woman on 10 August. Unfortunately for him, she is not a family member, so his name is plastered all over the national newspapers.
Remember, this is a person who, in the eyes of the law, is still innocent, since he has not yet been proven guilty. In contrast the 63-year-old grandfather, actually pleaded guilty to the rape of his three granddaughters. His anonymity remains preserved!
If this present state of affairs is not absolute madness, and a blatant case of double standards, what is?
Finally, in the light of the above recent happenings, it seems, that in countries like Malta, two firecrackers have exploded, revealing some awful realities in their aftermath: i.e.,
1. Some people are presumed guilty, even though they have not even had a trial, especially if they pass away in the meantime.
2. If one has a demonic urge to rape someone, then a family member is a reasonably safe bet, since one is guaranteed anonymity.
Absolutely shameful and disgusting. Justice screams for this travesty to be rectified.
Chevalier Colonel Dr Raymond Bencini
Zebbug
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