FEDERAL government has decided to enact an ordinance to deliver strict punishment to rape convicts. Chairing a meeting on Saturday, Prime Minister Imran Khan asked authorities concerned to come up with a plan to curb rape incidents, as any delay in legislation will be disastrous for the country.
Pakistan is ranked amongst ten worst countries when it comes to rape cases. Though rape incidents remain a severely under reported crime till date, yet few years ago a well known international NGO Human Rights Watch had revealed that a rape incident occurs once every two hours in Pakistan and a gang rape is mutilating honour of a Pakistani woman every single hour. Most recent horrific gang rape of a woman on a motorway that once again sent shockwaves and anger across the country underlined the need to take urgent steps to protect women. The effects of rape are devastating not only to victim but to the society as a whole. Therefore, rapists deserve no mercy at all and should be hanged publicly to avert such horrendous incidents in future, sending the rapists a message that society doesn’t accept them.
The establishment of one thousand special courts last year to address issues related to violence against women was a good initiative and hailed by many human rights organisations. And now our political parties while rising above political differences must send a message of unity on this sensitive matter by unanimously passing the legislation against such sex offenders from Parliament, which should not only envisage strict punishment for the convicts but also ensure speedy trial so that victim and its family should not wait for years to get justice. Besides providing legal aid and protection to rape survivors, latest technology must be used in such cases in order to ensure that real culprits are brought to justice. Rape survivors are also pressurised into withdrawing the complaint and not pursuing the matter further through intimidation or out of court settlements. In such a scenario, the state is under moral and legal obligation to swiftly investigate all such crimes and prosecute culprits.
