JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, signed a decree on Wednesday authorizing chemical castration for convicted child sex offenders and requiring those released on parole to wear electronic monitoring devices. 
 
 The new punishment comes in response to the brutal gang rape and murder in April of a 14-year-old girl on her way home on the island of Sumatra. Seven teenage boys were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime, which prompted national outrage and revived previous calls for chemical castration as a punishment against child sex offenders. 
 
 Mr. Joko told a news conference at the presidential palace in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, that he had signed a decree amending the country’s 2002 law on child protection to enable judges to hand down the punishment at their discretion. 
 
 “The inclusion of such an amendment will provide space for the judge to decide severe punishments as a deterrent effect on perpetrators,” Mr. Joko said. 

 JAKARTA Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday approved a law prescribing the death penalty as the maximum sentence for child rapists, after several brutal gang rapes sparked public outrage. 
 
 Sexual violence is prevalent in Southeast Asia's most populous country, but gang rape is unusual. 
 
 Social media erupted in calls for harsher punishment following a case early this month, in which a group of men was charged with raping and killing a schoolgirl in Bengkulu in the western island of Sumatra. 
 
 The case prompted rights groups to accuse the government of not doing enough to protect women and children, and provoked a tweet by Widodo himself seeking punishment of the perpetrators, although his call came more than a month after the event. 
 
 On Wednesday, Widodo said those responsible for sexual abuse of children, as well as repeat sex offenders, could also face chemical castration and be tagged with an electronic chip to track their movements, citing the law he signed. "Sexual violence against children is an extraordinary crime," Widodo told a news conference at the presidential palace. "This regulation is meant to overcome (such) incidents, in which we have seen a significant rise." 
 
 Data on the number of child sex abuse cases was not immediately available. 
 
 Rights activists warned against the decision to permit capital punishment and the use of chemical castration, however. "In most cases the perpetrators know the victims, and these punishments are so severe that it may discourage victims from reporting the rapes," said Andreas Harsono of New York-based Human Rights Watch. "On their own, these punishments don't address the need to protect children through a well-functioning welfare system." Widodo's government drew international condemnation last year for its execution by firing squad of several drug traffickers, mostly foreigners, despite repeated pleas for mercy from other governments and activists. 
 
 After a year-long hiatus, Indonesia is set to resume executions this year, but authorities have given no details. 
 
 (Reporting by Jakarta bureau and Kanupriya Kapoor; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
– Indonesia is officially a terrifying place for pedophiles: Effective immediately, child sex offenders can face the death penalty or chemical castration under new rules approved by President Joko Widodo, reports AFP. Offenders can also receive a maximum of 20 years in jail—double the previous maximum sentence—and may be forced to wear electronic monitoring devices after leaving prison, per the New York Times. The changes come a month after the gang rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl as she walked home from school in Sumatra. Her naked body was found days later tied up in the woods. Seven boys, ages 16 and 17, were sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime, which led to calls for harsher punishments. "These crimes have disturbed our sense of peace, security, and public order," Joko says. "So, we will handle it in an extraordinary way." But some say the new regulation isn't the right tactic in Indonesia, which already faces backlash over its use of capital punishment for drug offenders. "In most cases the perpetrators know the victims, and these punishments are so severe that it may discourage victims from reporting the rapes," a rep for Human Rights Watch tells Reuters. The organization adds that chemical castration—in which drugs are used to reduce libido—is "a false solution." The focus should instead be on prevention through school-based programs and treatment for people at risk of abusing children, the group says.