ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body consisting of lawmakers from both houses of parliament on Thursday unanimously cleared two pro-women bills, aimed at plugging loopholes in the law regarding ‘honour’ killing and rape.
The anti-honour killing bill aims to prevent the killing of women in the name of honour by making the crime a non-compoundable offence.
The proposed legislation withdraws the provision of ‘out-of-court’ settlement that leads to the release of convicts, recommending a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison even if the accused is pardoned by the family of an honour killing victim. Earlier, the term was 14 years.
The anti-rape law proposes the death penalty for the convict and recommends imposing the same punishment for rape cases involving prisoners or patients.
It also provides for the admissibility of DNA evidence in such cases, a point that was earlier disputed by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).
The proposed law also proposes the death penalty for the rape of a special person or a minor.
The bills also recommend three-year imprisonment for investigation officers found guilty of conducting a defective inquiry or hampering the investigation.
The upcoming legislation sets a three-month time frame for deciding rape cases, while appeals against convictions will be decided within four months. It will also make it mandatory to provide legal assistance to a rape survivor.
However, the proposed law predicates the medical examination of a rape survivor on his/her consent, while making a medical examination of the accused compulsory as well.
According to Law Minister Zahid Hamid, who chaired the sitting, the recommendations would be tabled in an upcoming joint session of parliament.
The Anti-Honour Killings Laws (Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Anti-Rape Laws (Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2015 were adopted by the Senate last year, but lapsed due to a government failure to get them passed from the National Assembly within the stipulated time frame.
The two drafts were initially piloted by former PPP Senator Sughra Imam as private members bills.
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2016
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