NATIONAL NEWS - Parents who give their children a hiding will no longer be able to use the defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’ if they are later accused of assault.
This comes after the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled on Thursday that parents can’t be exempted from the law, even when their religious beliefs demand that they discipline their children.
The judgment, handed down by Judge Raylene Keightley, was welcomed and criticised, especially by religious organisations. Keightley found that a Muslim father who kicked and beat his 13-year-old son for visiting pornographic websites, could not rely on the defence of “reasonable chastisement”.
She found that the common law defence is unconstitutional and invalid.
Keightley ruled that parents who believe in corporal punishment can’t put their religious beliefs above the interests of their children. She did, however, say that parents who administer corporal punishment to their children should not be randomly prosecuted and punished.
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