Pak women don't enjoy legal protection under Hudood law

Women in Pakistan don't enjoy legal protection under the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979.

According to the Dawn, despite the ordinance providing severe punishment for those accused of rape or adultery, the onus still lies on the female victim to prove that she was raped or was a victim of adultery under the Pakistan Penal Code and the Evidence Act.

“The ordinance has ended the basic rule of criminal jurisprudence that the accused shall be considered innocent unless the prosecution has proved without any shadow of doubt that the accused is guilty. The Zina Ordinance has been enforced on the presumption that the court shall deem the plaintiff woman as accused unless she proves herself innocent,” the paper quoted Dr. Javaid Iqbal, a former Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, as saying in a critique.

Dr Iqbal says that if a woman complains that a man has committed rape with her, she herself will be deemed to be involved in the offence to the extent that she has admitted the commission of zina. She will be presumed guilty unless she can prove to the satisfaction of the court that she was raped, he says.

He says that the main flaw in the law is that it was never presented in the National Assembly or the Senate as a legislative bill and it was ratified without any debate by parliament.

He says that the aspect of the ordinance by which women are mostly victimised is the enforcement of the provisions regarding rape.

It says that an overview of decided cases on the subject reveals that it is almost impossible for a woman to prove a case of rape, since the evidence required for hadd punishment is the eye-witness account of four adult, male, all of them upright Muslims.

Article Source: http://www.share.onlypunjab.com

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated