A Slap Makes You A Criminal

Section (2) (1) - (2) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 states that a person who willfully causes or inflicts physical injury on another person by means of any weapon, substance or object, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term for imprisonment not exceeding five (5) years or a fine not exceeding One Hundred Thousand (#100,000) or both. 

 

A person who attempts to commit the act of violence provided for above, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three (3) years or to a fine not exceeding Two Hundred Thousand Naira (#200,000) or both.

 

In layman's language, what the law above means is that beating, slapping, hitting, bitting, kicking and  committing any kind of vicious bodily harm on another person in your private life (wife, husband, children, relatives) and public life (employees, employers, colleagues, clients, strangers etc) is a crime that can land one in prison if convicted (found guilty) in a court of law.

 

Gone are the days that a husband will claim he is exercising his husbandly right by beating up his wife when he is angry with her. Except such a wife is self-destructive, she is to go to the police station and report the criminal offence committed against her by her husband, and he will be prosecuted by the state. Battered wives and husbands, the law to vindicate you has been passed, it is now left to you to make use of it or not. No one can put a stop to the physical abuse you're going through apart from you. The best the State can do is to pass laws that will protect the rights of its citizens and punish offenders when found guilty of committing an offence. It is the duty of citizens to report perpetrators to the appropriate authorities for the law passed to become effective and serve the purpose for which it was passed; which is to curb the prevalence of crime by punishing offenders.

 

As good citizens, we all have a duty to co-operate and do our part by not allowing sentiments and pressure from stopping us from reporting offenders, no matter who they are; husbands, brothers, uncles, sisters, aunties, friends, etc.

 

The law even says that an attempt to commit the crime of physical violence against another person is punishable under the law!. This means that even if the perpetrator did not succeed in harming the victim, as long as an attempt to do so was made, a crime has been committed. A crime punishable by a prison sentence, fine or both. So abusive individuals/spouses beware! If a person throws a knife at another person and it can be proved that he/she intended to cause bodily harm to that other person, even though the knife did not hit the person, the person who threw the knife will be found guilty of committing an offence under Section 2 Sub-Section 2 of the Act.

 

Join me tomorrow lovely people as I continue sharing the provisions under one of my favourite Nigerian Law, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015. Lots of love.

 

Life is to be enjoyed and not to be endured!