Teen to be Caned for Facebook Insult
EmailA 17-year-old boy is the first in his southern African nation to be sentenced because of a derogatory comment on Facebook. Zimbabwe state media reports today the boy will be beaten with two strokes of a cane for calling a woman a prostitute on the social-networking site.
According to the Herald newspaper, the boy, from the rural town of Chiredzi, was convicted of “criminal insult” after he confessed to using his mobile phone to secretly photograph a woman at her office. He then posted the picture on Facebook with a caption saying she was “a typical Chiredzi prostitute,” said a local radio station.
The boy pleaded with the judge for leniency, arguing he was brand new to social networking, an orphan and the bread winner in his family, according to RadioVop Zimbabwe.
Why he posted the insult has not been reported. The Zimbabwe radio station said the woman was among his Facebook friends, and he called her to tell her about the posting. She then called police. The boy’s Facebook page has since been taken down.
Caning is a common judicial punishment in Zimbabwe for boys under the age of 18. It is also frequently used as a discipline method in schools. The U.S. State Department’s 2010 Human Rights Report on Zimbabwe noted there were numerous reported cases of children suffering severe injuries from corporal punishment at school.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
reason 4 submitting 4to???since its the herald…..!
Posted by: max | February 20, 2012, 10:57 am 10:57 am
This sounds barbaric but hey here in the US we’ve had internet bullying that has led to murder and suicide…so maybe they are on to something in South Africa…
Posted by: LifeisGOOD007 | February 20, 2012, 11:04 am 11:04 am
Maybe if we used this method in the United States. we would not have so many problems with our youth.
Posted by: Jeremy | February 20, 2012, 11:52 am 11:52 am
I’ve always thought we should cane our American kids; they are getting away with a lot more than that. Our kids are “rude and disrepectful” little trolls….If this was the first case in Africa; I can bet he will probably be the last…
Posted by: misshe | February 20, 2012, 11:54 am 11:54 am
Um, he’s an orphan and the only breadwinner in his family? Orphans don’t have families. Jeez. And I agree w/ Jeremy & misshe; let’s beat the cr*p out of some of our teens, and a lot of problems would be nipped in the bud.
Posted by: Drema Stringer | February 20, 2012, 12:07 pm 12:07 pm
From Story: “Caning is a common judicial punishment in Zimbabwe for boys under the age of 18. It is also frequently used as a discipline method in schools. The U.S. State Department’s 2010 Human Rights Report on Zimbabwe noted there were numerous reported cases of children suffering severe injuries from corporal punishment at school.”……………… Here in the US we allow kids to bully other kids on the internet until the person they are bullying commits suicide or kills a bunch of people… and we don’t do crap about it. Smack ‘em on the wrist and tell them not to do it anymore.
Posted by: Tuesdaysgone | February 20, 2012, 12:16 pm 12:16 pm
Drema Stringer wrote “Um, he’s an orphan and the only breadwinner in his family? Orphans don’t have families.”
Really? No brothers or sisters that he might have to take care of because they are ALL orphans?!?
Posted by: Working_Class | February 20, 2012, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
I think Face Book should be banned
Posted by: greedywaterrabbitt | February 20, 2012, 12:36 pm 12:36 pm
Drema – you don’t know what an orphan is do you? It means he has no parents…..his family is most likely younger brothers and sisters that he provides for.
Posted by: wildride85 | February 20, 2012, 12:42 pm 12:42 pm
Dang! If that’s the standard, half the people on this ABC news blog would be caned.
Posted by: newcountryman | February 20, 2012, 2:12 pm 2:12 pm
Isn’t this the same country (South Africa) that Ruth Ginsburg said “Egypt should look to” when writing its new constitution because ours is outdated? The hypocrisy and sinister motives by this crusty old supreme court witch and Obama the warlock are too much to bear.
Posted by: shortmemory | February 20, 2012, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm
shortmemory ,zimbabwa is NOT the same country as south africa…
Posted by: babzc | February 20, 2012, 3:46 pm 3:46 pm
@shortmemory – If you read the article you might see that the country is Zimbabwe not South Africa.
Posted by: glacia | February 20, 2012, 4:46 pm 4:46 pm
Savages!
Posted by: john locke | February 20, 2012, 4:55 pm 4:55 pm
and, whats the solution??? Human Rights gets invovled and nothing will be done. ITS that structure of human rights movements which needs to be corrected. Is “punishment” even in their vocabulary. Or how is it defined
Posted by: rlh | February 20, 2012, 7:58 pm 7:58 pm
It’s only two strokes. Ten seconds and it’ll be over. And I bet he won’t make any more stupid statements like that again.
Posted by: cohenlmc | February 20, 2012, 9:57 pm 9:57 pm
Teenage accountability? Priceless.
Posted by: Sheila | February 20, 2012, 9:58 pm 9:58 pm
I’ll bet he doesn’t do it again
Posted by: Mark | February 20, 2012, 10:51 pm 10:51 pm
@ Jeremy
Yeah sure, let’s just forget about that whole silly first amendment, freedom of speech business and start physically punishing anyone who says something we find “rude”.
Posted by: leat32 | February 20, 2012, 11:59 pm 11:59 pm
@leat32 Yes, because that’s doing us a fat lot of good now, isn’t it? States is the most PLEASANT place on earth, someone saying something rude is the worst of our worries. Nip things like this in the bud early and you’d be surprised what kind of problems can be prevented.
Posted by: lalynn | February 21, 2012, 2:49 am 2:49 am
Um, South Africa is a country and Zimbabwe is a different country.
Posted by: srm | February 21, 2012, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm
The U S should take note… let all the crimes go unpunished… they do that now. Bring back Judge Roy Bean!!
Posted by: Bobski | February 21, 2012, 1:37 pm 1:37 pm
funny how you call this savage. im a African and i don’t see how this is offences. in our culture it is normal to discipline our kids. I guess it would be better had he been given the 2 months instead of caning?
and we do not have a 1st ammendment, laws are different in other countries, we don’t condone young boys calling elder women ( or any woman for that matter) deragatory terms.
Posted by: tee | February 22, 2012, 3:26 am 3:26 am
He deserves a worse punishment than caning. He should lose his job, be labeled a felon, spend time in jail, and be fined. Maybe then our great country won’t disintegrate into the cesspool that is America.
Posted by: sysadmin | February 22, 2012, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm
Really do not like the way this blog exaggerates the issue of corporal punishment in my country. I know the facts behind this story and the situation concerning youth with Facebook in Zimbabwe as well as my neighboring countries that are now having trouble with young people posting shameful content on the net. This young man, with his intent and the permanent damage he has done to this lady got off easy (unless someone would like to raise their hand and justify his actions). This matter here is abuse of the Facebook platform not corporal punishment in Zimbabwe.
Posted by: Naj | February 23, 2012, 1:37 am 1:37 am
The funny thing to me is that all of you post here so freely about your opinions of this case and say rather rude things about the youth of America but the only reason you CAN run your mouth here is because you were granted the FREEDOM OF SPEECH – the very thing this poor boy is being physically punished for – And I think every single one of who supports his punishment should get the cane as well because your talking ill on a public media forum about that kid!
Posted by: JMP | February 23, 2012, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm
Slander is not protected speech under the first amendment.
Posted by: Ligeia | February 24, 2012, 10:04 pm 10:04 pm
Caned because he called someone a prostitute……what about all the girls who are actually being
raped and no one cared? Maybe their justice system should focus on the real crimes.
Posted by: WANDERERS | February 28, 2012, 12:12 pm 12:12 pm
Leat32, he didn’t just say rude things, he defamed her character, that is illegal almost everywhere. I don’t condone caning, but he did deserve some kind of punishment.
Posted by: Librarian53 | March 1, 2012, 3:17 pm 3:17 pm
It’s not enough. The kid will do it again.
Posted by: Kara Sontibaybay | March 2, 2012, 10:31 am 10:31 am
1) It’s a different country (not America)
2) If my own child did that, they would be spanked.
3) It’s a fair law (Even in America, blasphemy used to be illegal in some states, and slander/libel have never fallen under free speech). He was not punished greviously in any manner that will prohibit him working, or cause him great injury. Meanwhile, his crime of defamation was adressed.
4) Even though it was a first time offense, and he is an orphan, he should have had to directly compensate the injured party somehow. (Whether by a small fine, possibly paid in installments, or apology letter, etc). I don’t personally think the physical part of the sentence should have been more severe, as a first time offense – but that is up to the judges who best know their own law and the social order of their country.
Posted by: Amonite | March 2, 2012, 1:23 pm 1:23 pm
Hmmm . . . . maybe we should get together and cane Rush Limbaugh!!!!
Posted by: Bruna | March 5, 2012, 12:42 am 12:42 am