The Legislative Assembly of Pakistan-administered Kashmir has unanimously passed an amendment bill approving other severe punishments, including disenfranchisement of child molesters.
Earlier, the cabinet of Azad Jammu and Kashmir passed the bill last month and sent it to the Legislative Assembly. There it was referred to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice for further action. The Standing Committee referred the bill back to the Legislative Assembly for voting and debate, where it was passed unanimously.
Introducing the bill in the Legislative Assembly, Minister Ahmad Raza Qadri said that after approval by the Legislative Assembly, the bill has been sent to the President of the region, Masood Khan, for ratification. It will be implemented across the state.
According to him, the president does not have the power to reject the bill. Ahmad Raza Qadri said that this law is strict but it is being enforced against a crime which is very inhumane. He said that section 377A has been amended in the bill which has three proposals to deprive a person who sexually abuses a child and also to impose any one of the death penalty and life imprisonment.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Raja Farooq Haider Khan, told the media on the passage of the bill that it was a difficult decision to get the amendment passed by the Legislative Assembly, including the Cabinet, but members of the Legislative Assembly Passed unanimously to stop because we had no choice but to legislate.
He said that due to the growing number of cases in the society, this private member’s bill was turned into a government bill so that those who sexually abused children across the state would be given such a heinous punishment that anyone would think a hundred times while committing this crime. He said similar punishments were imposed on those who sexually abused children around the world, but this was the first time the law had been enacted in Pakistan or any of its administrative units.
Punish but don’t make a spectacle of punishment
“I strongly condemn this legislation because it is so ridiculous,” Ansar Burney, head of the Ansar Burney Trust, a human rights group, told the media. “You have made this legislation in a country where there is a separate law for the rich, a separate law for the poor and a separate law for the rulers. To me, it’s not only ridiculous, it’s just a joke and a murder with justice. ”
“By no means do I want to convey that I recommend for no punishment for the rapists,” he said. In my opinion, such a person should be given a heinous punishment like life imprisonment or a punishment that would embarrass him for this crime. You are accepting this punishment in a country where people take money and give false testimony. In such a situation, anyone can file a case against his opponent and get this punishment given to him. Punish the perpetrators of such a heinous crime, but do not make a spectacle of punishment.
Amendment in the judicial procedure
Giving his opinion on the passage of the amendment bill, Supreme Court lawyer Karam Dad Khan said that the act of sexually abusing children is inhuman and unnatural. “The government and the opposition in the region have shown foresight in this legislation, which is their main achievement. This crime is not permissible in any religion while in Islam it is more than a serious crime which has no limits but in the holy books there are stories of divine punishment on the perpetrators of this crime. But there is no mention of the punishment given to them.
He said the judicial procedure passed in the amendment bill was more important than the legislation under which the Sessions Court would hear cases where it could be heard for a maximum of 60 days while in the High Court this period is up to 90 days.
If the court convicts the offender of sexual deprivation, the procedure should be completed through surgery, but if there is a risk of the offender dying during the surgery, the castration will be done with chemicals. The bill amends Penal Code 377A and 352A, as well as the judicial procedure for hearing decisions.
According to the bill, it will be up to the court to decide which of the three punishments it prescribes for the offender.
According to the approved bill, in addition to these punishments, the proposal to pay a fine of one million to five million rupees to the perpetrators of sexual abuse is also part of the bill. According to the bill, offenders convicted of attempted sexual abuse of children will face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs 1 million to Rs 2 million. Under the amendment bill, the court is required to complete such cases within 60 days and if due to unavoidable reasons the decision cannot be reached within 60 days, the court has another 30 days. Under the bill, such cases will be investigated by an ASP or higher.
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