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Pakistan Enacts Law to Ensure Swift, Severe Penalty for Rapists

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's president Tuesday signed a new anti-rape measure
   into law that would allow speedy convictions and toughen sentences for
   rapists.
   The presidential decree or ordinance requires the government to
   establish fast-track courts across the country to hear cases of sexual
   assaults against women and children.
   The tribunals will have to conclude the trials of suspects and deliver
   a verdict within four months, President Arif Alvi's office said.
   Local media reported the ordinance calls for strict sentences,
   including the chemical castration of those found guilty of committing
   the offence repeatedly. It also outlaws disclosing the identity of
   victims.
   The decree will create special "anti-rape crisis cells" across Pakistan
   for the protection of both victims and witnesses. The crisis cells will
   be responsible for conducting investigations and medical examinations
   of victims within six hours of the crime, the statement said.
   A nationwide register of sex offenders will also be maintained with the
   help of the National Database and Registration Authority.
   A presidential ordinance remains in force in Pakistan for 120 days and
   the government is required to seek a mandatory parliamentary approval
   for it to become a permanent law.
   Until now, a convicted rapist would face a sentence of up to 25 years
   in prison or the death penalty, while a gang-rape is punishable by
   death or life imprisonment.
   Legal experts say, however, such cases in Pakistan take years to
   prosecute and rapists often escape punishment because political
   influence leads to faulty police investigations. Moreover, rampant
   corruption in the lower judiciary can also help rapists in seeking
   favorable verdicts.
   The circumstances, critics say, discourages women from seeking justice
   for fear of being shamed or persecuted by police or even their own
   relatives in the largely conservative Pakistani society.
   Prime Minister Imran Khan's Cabinet approved the new law late last
   month to stem growing incidents of rape against women and children in
   recent years.

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