President Dr Arif Alvi approved the government’s “stringent” and “holistic” Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance, 2020 on Tuesday, to help expedite cases of sexual abuse against women and children, local media reported.
A statement issued by the President House said that under this ordinance, special courts are to be set up across the country to expedite trials and cases of rape at the earliest. The courts would have to wrap up the cases within four months, the statement added.
Moreover, the ordinance maintains that PM Imran Khan is to look over the establishment of anti-rape crisis cells, authorised to conduct medico-legal examinations within six hours of the incident.
The ordinance also includes setting up of a sex offenders’ registry at the national level with the help of National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA). It also prohibits the identification of rape victims and makes it a punishable offence.
Police and government officials who show negligence in investigating the cases would be jailed for three years along with the imposition of fines. Additionally, police and government officials who provide false information would also be punished. Repeat offenders would be chemically castrated under the guidance of a notified board.
It further said that a fund would be established by the PM, money from which would be used to set up special courts while federal and provincial governments would also allocate grants to the fund. Help would also be taken from local, national and international agencies along with non-governmental organisations and individuals.
Earlier, on November 7, the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases approved two ordinances to introduce harsher punishments for sex offenders including chemical castration and setting up special courts for rape cases.
According to a statement issued by the law ministry, the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance, 2020 and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 introduce the concept of chemical castration mainly as a “form of rehabilitation”.
“The two-state of the art pieces of legislation are in line with the Constitutional guarantees of Pakistan, as also the International treaties,” it read.
These laws provide mechanisms to curb sexual abuse crimes against women and children.
Sharing the salient features of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance, the ministry said special courts would be established to conduct trial in rape cases.
Anti-rape crisis cells headed by a commissioner or deputy commissioner will be set up to ensure prompt registration of FIR, medical examination and forensic analysis.
The law abolishes the inhumane and degrading two-finger virginity testing for rape victims during the medico-legal examination and eliminates any attachment of probative value to it.
The ordinance also bars the cross-examination of a rape survivor by the accused. Only the judge and accused’s lawyers will be able to cross-examine the survivor.
This ordinance comes months after the motorway gang-rape incident that caused an outpouring of anger across the country and brought sexual violence against women into national focus.
After an incident involving the alleged rape of a woman and her minor daughter in Sindh’s Kashmore district, PM Khan had announced in November that the government would bring a “stringent and holistic anti-rape ordinance closing all loopholes”.
