Are you engaging in incest? You are a criminal

REGULARLY, news about incest take over the air waves and the pages of the national dailies; it is gradually becoming the subject of discussion on human interest programmes and  incestuous acts; father sleeping with his daughter, brothers and sisters in incestuous activities, grandfather and grandchild having sexual relations and other forms is becoming an everyday occurrence in today’s society.

And more often than not, many of the cases do not get to public space because families cover them up and make it a family affair, allowing the perpetrator to get away under the guise of not wanting to wash the family’s dirty linen in public.

However, many do not know that this cover up is a criminal offence just like the real act. Indeed, the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act which was passed into law in a bid to eliminate violence in private and public life; prohibit all forms of violence, including physical, sexual, psychological, domestic, harmful traditional practices; discrimination against persons and to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders classify incest as a criminal act which is punishable under the law.

VAPP defines incest to mean an indecent act or an act which causes penetration with a  person who is, to his or her knowledge,  his or her daughter or son,  granddaughter or son,  sister or brother,  mother or father,  niece or nephew,  aunt/uncle, grandmother or grand uncle.

It also gave provisions of punishment for perpetrators and their accessories.

The VAPP Act provides further that any person who knowingly and willfully have carnal knowledge  of another within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity and affinity contained in the  Schedule to the  Act with or without consent,  commits incest.

And anyone that commits incest is liable on conviction to a minimum term of 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine if the sex was not consensual, that is, it is based on force or coercion or the other party is not in a state to give consent.

However, in situations where the sex was with consent, that is,  both people involved consent to commit the incestuous act, the law prescribes a prison term of five years without an option of fine for both parties.

Before you engage in the act of incest, take note that you are not only engaging in a shameful act but also committing a criminal act. Indeed, you are a criminal in the face of the law.