THE facts of the case: a 7-year-old boy, while walking along a road in Petaling Jaya, was bundled into a van, blind-folded and wrapped with a piece of curtain. He was then taken to a house, his eyes taped and confined for six days. His pleas to see his grandmother were ignored.

When the boy’s health deteriorated and having learned that his family had alerted the police, the three abductors decided to abort their plan and the boy was released.

Originally, the abductors were charged under the Kidnapping Act, which carries the death sentence.

But later, they pleaded guilty to a reduced charge under the Penal Code and were sentenced to five years’ jail (”Trio who abducted child get five years” — NST, July 31)

As I see it, the sentence is manifestly inadequate. I humbly feel this law is outdated and needs to be reviewed.

The irony is, a person convicted of a white-collar crime can be sentenced to whipping.

The provision of stiffer punishment to include mandatory whipping would help, to a certain extent, solve the present phenomenon we are facing — a flood of abduction cases and missing children.

Source: NST – August 5, 2008