PESHAWAR, Sept 19: The provincial law department has prepared various drafts laws for checking violence against women in the name of honour and other issues relating to women’s right.

The law for checking violence in the name of honour (Ghairat) would be called the NWFP Prevention of Violence against Women Act, 2003. Similarly, the law for introducing the practice of Qasamat (taking oath from various persons in murder cases) would be called the NWFP Qasamat Act, 2003.

An official of the law department confided to Dawn that the two drafts along with that of other proposed laws aimed at safeguarding the rights of women in society, would be debated in a four-day workshop to be organized by the law department to further improve the drafts.

He said the final draft would be presented before the provincial cabinet and after approval it would be tabled in the assembly in the shape of separate bills.

In the draft prepared for violence in the name of honour, it is stated that Ghairat means the custom, which the accused considers and pleads as defence for the violence against any person. The department has yet to suggest in the draft the punishment for the offence.

The proposed law states: “No person shall commit violence against any person in the name of Ghairat or any other custom of the like nature.”

Moreover the government has proposed that the plea of Ghairat or any other custom of the like nature should not be a valid ground of defence in any criminal case registered or tried under any law for the time being in force nor should it be considered as a mitigating circumstances for taking lenient view for the capital punishment provided for such offence under such law.

In the proposed law on Qasamat, it is stated: “Qasamat means number of oaths to be taken from the person prescribed here in this law.”

The proposed law suggests that if a body is found in an area and the legal heirs of the deceased do not charge any person and there is no incriminating evidence, the court shall call 50 men and adult inhabitants of area to be chosen by legal heirs of the deceased and shall take oath from each of them to the effect that neither he has committed the culpable homicide of the deceased nor he has witnessed the occurrence, or identified the accused and each of them shall be liable to pay Diyat in equal shares.

Under the proposed law, if the court is satisfied that there is an incriminating evidence, it shall order not less than 50 men and adult members of the legal heirs of the deceased or their tribe or family, as the case may be, to take oath that the person against whom the evidence is available has committed the culpable homicide of the deceased. Provided further that after completion of such oath the person against whom the oaths have been taken shall be liable to pay Diyat to the legal heirs of the deceased.

The draft of the proposed law also mentions various other circumstances in which procedure of payment of Diyat is given if the body is found in a mosque, in a bazaar, a public place or public transport.

It is learnt that NWFP Law Secretary Amir Ghulab Khan, in his stint as Chitral Zila Qazi had introduced the practice of Qasamat in various cases. However, the Peshawar High Court had set aside those judgments as the practice was introduced without any backing of law.

Earlier, the department had prepared drafts of proposed laws for checking the practice of Talaq-i-Mughaliza (Three pronouncement in one go) and depriving women of the property rights in inheritance. Under those proposed laws those two practices would be declared penal offences.