Lahore Motorway Rape Case: What kind of legislation is needed for crimes like rape in Pakistan?

 

Following the Lahore Motorway Rape Case, discussions are on for appropriate measures and legislation to prevent such incidents. While many people are publicly demanding the death penalty for the perpetrators, some say such people should be deprived of their sexual ability. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan himself has said that he is in favor of depriving the perpetrators of rape and child sexual abuse of their sexual ability in the country and new legislation is needed in this regard. On the other hand, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a meeting of the National Assembly, said that the solution to the problem is not public execution but the provision of speedy justice under existing laws, including the death penalty for rape. Is.

In the National Assembly session, Fawad Chaudhry also said that an average of 5,000 rape cases are registered in Pakistan every year in which the culprit is convicted in only 5% of the cases and that too after many years of efforts while thousands of women registered cases. Don't do

He added that time is needed to reform the criminal justice system, which he said includes four things: the police, the medical, the court and the prison. In this regard, PTI MP Shandana Gulzar on Geo News program Capital Talk, while talking about the demand for public execution of rape perpetrators, said that the Constitution of Pakistan does not allow such punishments.

Speaking to the BBC, lawyer and social activist Hina Jilani said: "If we talk about rape, first of all the country needs to improve and reform the law of martyrdom, including in various fields." There is a need to improve the law of evidence, including what evidence should be required in any rape case, to secure that evidence, to improve the method of investigation of this crime in practice. He said that no new legislation was needed for this but only serious reforms and improvements should be made in the justice system. Hina Jilani said that the "two-finger" medical tests currently being performed in the country for the medical examination of post-rape victims is "not only humiliating but also pointless" for them. He said that the procedure needs to be changed to check whether a woman has been raped or not and instead the evidence should be prepared after forensic examination and detailed medical examination and consultation as the current The medical examination method does not prove whether a woman has been raped or not. According to Hina Jilani, the second important step is to focus on the justice system because "in our country, not only in rape cases but also in any crime case, there is no importance and time for police investigation." The shortcomings of the prosecution should be rectified so that when a case goes to court, it should be in such a way that it can be fully and comprehensively dealt with. He said that if the investigation and prosecution of any case is weak, then what will the court do in such a case, "it will decide on the basis of the case and the evidence before it."

He said the third important task was to provide comprehensive training to people in key institutions such as the police and the judiciary to "sensitize them to crimes like rape".

Hina Jilani said that there is a need to create a public commitment that we will be sensitive to crimes based on gender. He said that the reason why a woman does not go to file a rape case is because where there is notoriety in the society, there is the attitude and environment that she has to face in the prosecution court.

She says it is the judge's job to maintain the court environment, but if he does not understand the sensitivity of the issue, "the victim is humiliated by the parties during the hearing." Azam Nazir Tarar, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, told the BBC: "Our justice system is based on a 150-year-old law. It is a very rotten and weak justice system with many flaws and shortcomings. There are. '

Azam Tarar said, "We have not made scientific changes in this justice system in time as the rest of the world is doing. For example, if agencies and police have taken various measures including geo-fencing to nab the accused in the motorway rape case." But our system of justice or the law of evidence does not involve any such action in every case.

"Police investigation is not acceptable in our law of evidence, so we need to change and reform the criminal code and the law of martyrdom so that a person convicted of rape or murder or a person convicted of theft and robbery is liable to punishment," he said. Could not escape "We need to rebuild the justice system," he said. According to him, if the police know that they have not secured any scene under a code of conduct, then they will be prosecuted and punished as soon as they leave the job. He says scientific training and reform will be an important part of the new justice system. Hina Jilani said that the fear of punishment for any crime arises when you are able to give those punishments to the culprit, but when a weak justice system like our country cannot punish any culprit, prevent it. Not possible He said that recently Prime Minister Imran Khan had also spoken of depriving the perpetrators of rape and child sexual abuse in the country of sexual ability but this practice is controversial wherever it is prevalent in the world. He said that even in the United States, this punishment or action is used only as a very serious punishment for those who are guilty of child abuse. "In my view, this is not a punishment there, but a life sentence with the consent of the offender," he said. "The constitution of our country does not allow any punishment that is painful or Be very painful Therefore, it will be very difficult to enforce this punishment in the country. "It takes time to destroy the sexual ability of a criminal through chemicals or medicine and the criminal has to appear before the police and the medical board every two months and take the medicine. Who will the police be able to keep under surveillance here for months? ”He said that the way people are talking about public execution of rapists today is not legally possible. He said it was better to establish the fear of certain punishment than to punish it harshly or painfully. He recalled the public execution of a child rapist named Pappu in Lahore during the rule of former President General Zia-ul-Haq and said that how many people today remember the public execution of Pappu or his culprit. "Punishment is not painful, but if it is ensured, rape can be prevented," said Azam Nazir Tarar, a lawyer who agrees with Jilani's position. Or being tortured does not prevent the crime, but the certainty of punishment in the event of a crime reduces the crime. "When someone is convinced that if caught in a crime, the punishment will be certain," There will be no crime, but if anyone knows that if I am caught in a crime, then there are so many flaws in the system that I will be released, then the crime will not stop.

Criminal law expert Nazir Tarar says that according to the existing law in the country, rape has been made the most serious crime. "Under the criminal law in Pakistan, there are only two punishments for rape: death and life imprisonment. There are no greater punishments in the world."

He says both sentences are part of the law in Pakistan, "just to be enforced through a thorough investigation and a comprehensive prosecution". Hina Jilani says that "for a crime like rape, there should be a strict punishment, for example, the perpetrator of this serious crime should be sentenced to life imprisonment and in no case should there be any parole or release."

"Individually, I am not in favor of the death penalty. The perpetrator of rape should be sentenced to life imprisonment and it should be ensured that he is not released or granted bail," he said.

"Murder has been punishable by death in the country for decades, but murder has not stopped in the country. We are not in favor of the death penalty in our weak justice system because there are examples of executing a few innocent people," he said. was given.'