Pakistan govt removes castration clause from rape legislation

In a U-turn, Pakistan on Friday dropped the controversial clause of chemical castration of ordinary rapists from new laws after the Council of Islamic Ideology objected to the punishment, describing it as “unIslamic”.

The improvement comes after Parliament handed the brand new laws that goals to hurry up convictions and impose more durable sentences. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was among the many 33 payments handed by the parliament in its joint sitting on Wednesday.Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Maleeka Bokhari mentioned at a press convention that the clause offering for castration was dropped within the mild of objections raised by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).The CII is a constitutional physique of Pakistan, accountable for giving authorized recommendation on Islamic points to the federal government and Parliament.Addressing the media together with Law Minister Farogh Nasim in Islamabad, she mentioned the CII had termed the punishment of chemical castration for rapists as “unIslamic”.”Article 227 of the Constitution also guarantees that all laws must be under the Shariah and the Holy Quran, hence we cannot pass any law that goes against these values,” Bokhari mentioned, including that the clause was later omitted from the invoice earlier than handed by the joint session.She mentioned the punishment of castration was deleted after an in depth dialogue by a authorities committee underneath the steering of the legislation minister.The invoice is a response to a public outcry towards a current spike in incidents of rape of girls and youngsters within the nation and rising calls for for successfully curbing the crime.The passage of the invoice comes nearly a yr after President Arif Alvi permitted the brand new anti-rape ordinance that was cleared by the Pakistan Cabinet, calling for the chemical castration of rapists with the consent of the convict and organising of particular courts for fast trials.The castration of rapists was proposed by Prime Minister Imran Khan in September final yr in a TV interview after the rape of a girl on a motorway close to Lahore within the presence of her minor youngsters.Subsequently, an ordinance was promulgated in December final yr to supply for chemical castration for ordinary offenders or first-time rapists relying on the character of the crime.However, objections have been raised towards the ordinance, together with by the CII which final month termed it Un-Islamic to punish somebody with castration.Chemical castration is using medication to scale back sexual exercise. It is a authorized type of punishment in international locations together with South Korea, Poland, the Czech Republic and a few states within the US, based on media reviews.Critics say fewer than 4 per cent of sexual assault or rape instances in Pakistan lead to a conviction.Read | Marital rape: Marriage cannot imply irrevocable implied consent | OPINIONRead | Bangladesh lady choose’s controversial comment on rape will get her sacked. This is what she mentioned