I am of the opinion that the proposal by the committee headed by the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr RaisYatim that those who commit incest be given life sentences and mandatory whipping is certainly wrong.

This is because such mandatory sentences take away from judges their discretionary powers in meting out severity of punishment proportionate to the circumstances.

Lets face it. The constant sexual abuse of a girl of seven by a very much older father and uncle is different from incestuous and consensual explorations of a brother of 14 and a sister of 12 though there is no argument that both instances are incestuous and wrong.

What happens if it involves a 15-year-old sister seducing a 10-year-old younger brother or a rare but possible isolated instance of a mother and a son of 15? Is life imprisonment and whipping going to apply consistently in all these incestuous perpetrators as well?

It is suggested that the traditional way of imposing a minimum and maximum range of punishment with the judge meting out the punishment within that range according to the gravity of the circumstances is still appropriate.

It is highly debatable whether stiffer punishments by themselves would be sufficient deterrence to stem incest. As their perpetrators are often family members depended upon for economic sustenance or other reasons, stiffer punishment like life imprisonment will only act as deterrence for other family members who are victims not to report the crime.

A recommendation for stiffer punishment may be politically dramatic to underscore resolve to counteract this problem. It, however, hardly serves the purpose over the longer run to stem incest if its root causes are not researched, comprehended and addressed.

Every one who has ever expressed an opinion on incest has either dared not express an opinion on its causes or has no informed opinion to express regarding why this problem afflicts one section or community more than others.

Dare we to assume that stiffer punishment is the panacea to cure this social ill when we have not even confronted or dare not confront its underlying causes?

The majority of societies and communities have incest taboo but what makes some sections of people more prone to cross that line of taboo?

Is it higher sex drive, and if so has it anything to do with dietary or genetic factors?

Is incest more prevalent in urban or rural setting? Does remoteness of the physical household from neighbours (as in rural setting) or the lack of access to other forms of entertainment or other alternative avenues of sexual release, contributory factors?

Does the patriarchal cultural belief that boys and men have a right to dominate and control their women and children physically another contributory factor? Or is it total dependency of the women of the family on its male members?

Is it due to decrease in religious faith thereby loosening moral compunctions or quite the opposite, increase in religiosity that causes greater repression of the natural biological drive when one is outside the home that one must find release within?

Of course, these are all speculations without factual basis but postulated if only to stress how wanting this issue is of honest study and data. As we do not know the answers, so too we will be equally ill-equipped to address and mitigate this problem.

Suffice to say, incest harks back to the very nature of family and kinship as influenced by physical environment, cultural and social factors.

To get to the bottom of the causes is but one prong of the attack of this problem; the other prong is education by teachers, community leaders and media.

The cases reported are a tip of the iceberg as I am sure that there are many more of such cases unreported because the perpetrators happen to be close family members; because many victims are not even aware that what they have been engaging in is wrong until they hear otherwise from others outside; because the sheer ostracism and shame such acts bring in contrast to their prevalence since time immemorial actually foster a culture of concealment in which leading double lives seems a natural thing to do.