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	Kenya: Muslim Clerics Want Death Penalty for Sex Offenders By Brian Otieno The Allafrica June 14, 2011 http://allafrica.com/stories/201106141888.html About 150 Muslim clerics in Mombasa are calling for the death penalty for religious leaders who engage in acts of sodomy. Led by the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, the leaders yesterday said sodomy is a serious crime that goes against all religions in the country. "The penalty for such acts according to the Quran is death. We will not allow any such action no matter what religion the offender professes. "If the government allowed, the culprits would have been killed. The government should at least prefer life sentences to such," said CIPK organising secretary Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa. During a forum to discuss measures to curb the increased cases of sodomy at religious institutions yesterday, the religious leaders blamed poor parenting, lack of trust towards children, and celibacy or bachelorhood. Cases of sodomy by religious leaders in religious institutions have recently been on the rise. Late last month, a Pakistani preacher was arrested and charged with defiling six underage boys in a Mombasa mosque. Two weeks later, another preacher was arrested by police at Mlango wa Papa and charged with defiling two minors. Kisauni Islamic Institution principal Ustadh Majid Hobeni said parents should bring up children in a way that they are not afraid to refuse things that are not right."Good parenting entails enabling children to say no to bad deeds. We as parents instill so much fear in children that they don't report issues that affect them."Parents also do not trust their children. They usually think they are lying. This forces children to keep mum whenever something is wrong," said Ustadh Hobeni. CIPK's Sheikh Mohamed Aboud said Imams and other religious leaders should not be allowed to preach if unmarried. He said only those who have wives should be allowed to preach or teach religious issues to children. "These are people who might easily be overwhelmed by the natural sexual feelings if they do not have anywhere to satisfy the feelings," said Sheikh Aboud.
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