ISLAMABAD: On Tuesday, President Dr Arif Alvi approved the Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020, which will ensure the timely prosecution of cases of rape involving women and children as victims and also facilitate the chemical castration of those convicted of such crimes.
However, according to the proposal accepted by the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Cases (CCLC), the convict’s approval would not be required for castration, although the judge of the trial court will have the right to do so.
Sources said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted castration to be used as a disciplinary move to address the rising cases of abuse.
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A prisoner was found innocent in Pakistan’s criminal justice system even after 17 years of detention, he added, adding that if the convict had been sentenced to castration, his physical state could not have been reversed.
Hamid Khan said a statute was in force to counter rape crimes and shield victims, adding that the government should ensure full enforcement of the current law instead of enacting the ordinance.
For the first or chronic offenders, the CCLC recommended castration and the concept of chemical castration was then primarily adopted as a means of therapy and subject to approval.
In the draught bill, consent for the purpose of chemical castration was added as international law makes it necessary to seek the convict’s consent prior to the said treatment. According to the law ministry, if an accused would not consent to chemical castration, he will be treated in compliance with the Pakistan Penal Code, in which he may be sentenced to death, life imprisonment or 25 years in jail by the judge.
The sources said the draught bill had been forwarded by the CCLC to the federal cabinet, where it was agreed that the castration would not be performed with the convict’s permission. The clause recommending castration with the convict’s permission was consequently omitted from the measure.
According to the reports, guidelines for carrying out the castration process will be framed by the law ministry. They said the judge will be empowered for a period ranging from six months to life to order chemical castration of the prisoner.
According to a statement released by President House on Tuesday, for the speedy prosecution of suspects of sexual harassment, special courts will be formed across the world. In four months, the courts will have to wind up the proceedings, it said.
Under the ordinance, the anti-rape crisis cells of the prime minister will be set up within six hours of the event to perform medico-legal exams.
With the support of the National Database and Registration Authority, a countrywide register of sexual offenders will also be established.
Under the ordinance, it will be prohibited from revealing the names of the victims and ruled a punishable crime, the statement stated. Police and government officers who demonstrate incompetence in investigating the crimes will be incarcerated along with the imposition of fines for three years. They will be disciplined for presenting misleading data as well.
Repeated criminals, the statement said, will be medically castrated under the supervision of a notified board. It claimed that the prime minister would set up a fund, the money from which would be used to set up special courts, whilst the federal and provincial governments would distribute grants to the fund as well.
Ordinance termed eyewash
Rights campaigners and constitutional scholars called the decree allowing the rapists to be castrated as futile and eyewash and ruled out the prospect of countering the threat by such a penalty.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Sadia Bokhari said such law was mere eyewash because it did not serve to protect the victims. She said that public hanging and castration could not ensure the end of cases of violence, adding that applying the legislation successfully would establish true deterrence for the rapists.
Ms Bokhari pointed out that even in the most high-profile incidents, thanks to numerous loopholes, including out-of-court settlement with the families of the accused, the alleged rapists got off scot-free.
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The castration was dubbed barbaric, unusual, unconstitutional and un-Islamic by renowned lawyer Hamid Khan, claiming it was an irreparable loss for the prisoner.
A prisoner was found innocent in Pakistan’s criminal justice system even after 17 years of detention, he added, adding that if the convict had been sentenced to castration, his physical state could not have been reversed.
Hamid Khan said a statute was in force to counter rape crimes and shield victims, adding that the government should ensure full enforcement of the current law instead of enacting the ordinance.
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