JAKARTA,
Indonesia — The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, signed a decree on
Wednesday authorizing chemical castration for convicted child sex
offenders and requiring those released on parole to wear electronic
monitoring devices.
The
new punishment comes in response to the brutal gang rape and murder in
April of a 14-year-old girl on her way home on the island of Sumatra.
Seven teenage boys were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for the
crime, which prompted national outrage and revived previous calls for
chemical castration as a punishment against child sex offenders.