For the first time in Madagascar, a court has ruled that surgical castration be carried out on a sex offender, who raped and murdered a six-year-old girl.
The 24-year-old man has been sentenced to surgical castration and life imprisonment with hard labour – the first time the law will be applied since it was voted through in parliament more than a year ago.
"Today's decision is a strong and significant response from the justice system, intended also to serve as a warning to anyone with similar malicious intentions," said Didier Razafindralambo, attorney general at the Court of Appeal.
According to Madagascar’s justice ministry, 133 cases of the rape of a minor were reported in January 2024 alone – more than four per day.
The offender in this case took the six-year-old girl to his home in March 2024, where he beat, raped and strangled her and burnt her with cigarette butts.
Permanent punishment
Surgical castration is a permanent procedure involving the removal of the testicles, or ovaries, to stop the production of sex hormones.
It is a rare form of punishment, only used in Germany, the Czech Republic, the state of Louisiana in the United States and that of Kaduna in Nigeria – and now Madagascar.
Chemical castration involves the use of drugs to stop the production of sex hormones. The punishment has been introduced in several US states, and several countries.
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Madagascar's Justice Minister Landy Mbolatiana Randriamanantenasoa said that the introduction of the law enabling surgical castration was necessary due to increasing cases of child rape.
Surgical castration will be the default punishment for those found guilty of raping a child under the age of 10, according to the new law. Cases of rape against children between the ages of 10 and 13 will be punished by either surgical or chemical castration. The rape of minors between the age of 14 and 17 will be punished by chemical castration.
'Cruel and inhuman'
The country's Catholic bishops have condemned the law, saying it goes against ethics and morality. They described castration as an act of "torture", contrary to human rights and the principles of the Church.
"The human body, as the work of God, is sacred," they said in a statement. "So nothing and no one has authority over it, not even the law."
The law has also drawn criticism from several rights groups. At the time of the law's proposal, Amnesty International called castration a "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" and said it was "inconsistent with Malagasy constitutional provisions against torture and other ill-treatment, as well as regional and international human rights standards".
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However, Jessica Lolonirina Nivoseheno of Women Break the Silence – a movement against rape culture in Madagascar – told RFI that the punishment will act as a deterrent.
"Rape culture is so present in Madagascar. Sexual violence is normalised. The punishment is a way of telling potential offenders that there are consequences for their crime."
