ISLAMABAD: A joint parliamentary session on Thursday passed bills against honour killing and rape.
The bills, initially moved by former PPP Senator Sughra Imam, were passed unanimously by the Senate sometime back and subsequently moved in the joint session by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar after Imam’s term ended.
Babar said that the anti-honour killing bill was passed by the Senate’s committee in 2014 when it was headed by a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam senator. Subsequently, it was passed by 104-member Senate by consensus, including the religious parties.
“We must close down the loopholes of forgiveness in the law by excluding honour killing from the application of Qisas and Diyat Law,” he added.
The legislation passed by the joint session makes 25-year jail term mandatory in case of honour killings even if the murderer has been pardoned by other family members.
About the Anti-Rape Bill, Babar said that a recent study had shown that conviction in rape cases was a mere 2% which means that 98% rapists potentially got scot free. This is largely because DNA test is not compulsory in rape cases under the existing law, he added.
The legislation passed makes DNA test mandatory in investigation as part of the procedure. Through another amendment enhanced punishment has been provided for rape in police stations and rape of minors and mentally handicapped.
The legislation on honour killings has introduced strict punishment for the convicts making it tougher than the ordinary murder cases. Under the new law, the convict in honour killing cases will have to face life imprisonment even if the relatives of the victims reach an agreement with the convict and pardon him or her.
Under the existing law, a murderer can be released after the legal heirs pardon him, but the legislation on honour killings recommends 25 years imprisonment even if the heirs of the victim pardon the convict.
Babar said the bill is aimed at preventing killing of women in the name of honour. The religious parties had objected to the bill with an argument to do away with the compoundable clause. But Babar had argued that Islam never allows killing of anyone with ulterior motives.
Debating during the session, Law Minister Zahid Hamid revealed that the perpetrator of the crime would also be medically examined after the bill is turned into law.
“The police station will be obliged to inform the victims of their legal rights,” Hamid said, adding, “We have made it mandatory that the culprit must be imprisoned for 25 years.”
“The verdicts in the rape cases will have to be given within three months, with the right to appeal in six months,” he added.
In July, days after the ‘honour’ killing of social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch, a committee comprising of lawmakers from both the lower and upper houses of parliament unanimously approved two bills aimed at tackling ‘honour’ killings and boosting rape convictions.
According to the minister, under the new law relatives of the victim would only be able to pardon the killer of capital punishment, but they would still face a mandatory life sentence of twelve-and-a-half years.
In the anti-rape bill, “a provision to conduct DNA tests on both the alleged victim and perpetrator has been added for the first time”, he said. The rape of minors, as well as the mentally and physically ill, would become punishable by death.
A 2005 amendment to the law pertaining to ‘honour’ killings prevented men who kill women relatives pardoning themselves as an “heir” of the victim. But punishment was left to a judge’s discretion when other relatives of the victim forgive the killer – a loophole which critics say is exploited.
