Poll: Should NZ have the death penalty?

A brutal attack on a visiting 5-year-old girl at a Turangi holiday park has prompted a furious response from the district's mayor.

Taupo district mayor Rick Cooper said: "Why did our forebears get rid of the death penalty? Is this going to become a daily occurrence? What can I say? ... He is damn lucky it's not my daughter or granddaughter," he told a Fairfax reporter.

Readers on

The Daily Post

's Facebook page posted strong responses to the attack. Many of them are so strong they are unpublishable.

Some said the offender should be shot or hung up while others expressed sympathy for the victim and her family.

What do you think? Should NZ have the death penalty? Vote in our poll and comment below.