Thick fog in the plains of Punjab has severely affected inter-city travel. Due to heavy fog, Lahore-Sialkot Motorway is closed, while M-2 Motorway from Lahore to Farooqabad, M4, Shurkot Interchange to Gojra and Multan-Sukkur Motorway are also suspended.
Rain and snowfall are likely in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, and adjoining hilly areas today.
Many regions of the country are in the grip of severe cold and during the last 24 hours, Kalam was the coldest region of the country with a temperature of minus 9 degree Celsius recorded.
On the other hand, cold weather has returned to Karachi after heavy showers spread out over two days. However, the air in Karachi and Lahore is still polluted, while the air quality is relatively better.
January 20 marked the date when a landmark verdict from a session court in Karachi changed the landscape of the judicial approach in terms of intimate partner violence.
It has been precisely two weeks since the court announced in “The State vs Javed” that the “ocular version is also supported by the medical evidence which shows that the victim was a habitual passive agent of sodomy.” Sher Bano from Karachi lodged a complaint against her husband Javed at the police station about him subjecting her to sodomy despite her attempts to stop her. About two months after their marriage, she informed her mother-in-law, who didn’t say anything to him, she said, adding that then she disclosed her ordeal to her sister and brother, after which she lodged an FIR against her husband on November 23, 2022.
Garnering a fierce debate online, this also raised a couple of questions in my mind. If this was a case of sodomy, then why is it dubbed as a marital rape? Or are they both linked? I contacted Barrister Haya Zahid from the Legal Aid Society to hear her explain the legal complexities around these terms. Haya was welcoming and answered all my questions which helped me shape this article. Legal Aid Society has now been working for the last one decade. It started as a free legal aid clinic for the marginalized sections of society, especially women and children, and has now spread all over Sindh. In the last few years, they have proceeded with over a hundred cases of sexual violence, most including charges of sodomy and rape.
Haya’s works mostly surround policy and reform. Staying true to the mission statement to connect vulnerable and disempowered end users of justice with effective and expedient services for the delivery of justice, she runs the legal aid clinic efficiently and effectively. Her team includes 33 lawyers providing free services across Sindh. For instance, she is working on Fatima from Ranipur’s case, and her team is documenting the delays and lapses of the legal system. Apart from compiling research-based data, they are training judges and prosecutors. They even assist prosecutors, as they did in The State vs Javed case, Advocate Behzad Akbar from Legal Aid Society was writing arguments for the public prosecutor because they must proceed as sexual violence is a crime against the state. They train prosecutors for such cases, helping them in preparing the case.
“The reason we are all very excited is that in the current scenario in Pakistan, intimate partner violence is more common than rapes conducted by strangers” she started by setting the premise. “Spousal sexual abuse is physically and mentally more damaging. Women usually have tended to remain silent. According to our records, they come to our legal aid office to find out what they can do and most of them opt to tread the path of obtaining ‘khula’ which is accompanied by economic disadvantages. The majority of them do not pursue cases for protection against domestic violence let alone speaking about the intimate partner violence that they go through.”
Haya made it a point to mention that most of their clients of sodomy have been male children. Their parents feel less stigmatized in fighting for justice compared to the parents of female children. Sher Bano’s plea was refreshing in a way that she very soon left her husband after the marriage, informed her family about what she had to face and that this is not normal and fought the good fight. She put up with all the medical and legal requirements and despite certain minor discrepancies in her testimony, the judge had to take a broader approach as the claims were substantiated.
The State vs Javed
In the case the victim Sher Bano filed a case against her husband after approximately four months of marriage because he used to commit oral and anal sex despite her disapproval. She confided in her mother-in-law but was ignored. She eventually took the matter home, consulted a doctor and with the support of her family, lodged an FIR against her husband. She remained steadfast during the trial as the husband and his sisters accused her of being in love with someone else and therefore wrongly blamed his husband for sodomizing her. They even tried to use piles, which she suffered from, as an excuse to prove her claim wrong. Her grit is as Haya said, “music to the ears” because she emerged victorious.
What is Marital Rape in Pakistan’s constitution?
High Court Advocate Nimra Arshad in an explainer recorded by Dawn News sheds light on the term. There is still no such term as Marital Rape defined by the law but after the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2021, the definition of rape was broadened in Article 375 of Pakistan Penal Code. Previously, the implication of the law was that rape is when a man has non-consensual sex with a woman who is not his wife but now the definition involves non-consensual sex between a man and a woman irrespective of what relation they share.
The punishment is laid out in Article 376 of PPC which can be a death sentence or life imprisonment for 10-25 years.
Criticism over three-year punishment
Barrister Haya Zahid explained that rape has more punishment in law as compared to sodomy. Because the primary abuse in this case, proven in front of the court, is sodomy, the case proceeded in line with the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2021. This law is pivotal in this case as the definition of rape was totally reformed in this amendment and was hence used in this case. According to an amendment in article 375, a person is said to have committed rape if the person penetrates his penis, inserts, or manipulates any object or part of the body to any extent into the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of another person against their will, without consent, or consent being taken with coercion. Considering this a case of sodomy, it was still treated as marital rape because the victim was in a spousal relation with the offender and their marriage was intact when she filed the case. Resultantly, the court declared that the accused was not able to prove his point of any personal enmity that the victim (the wife) had an affair with somebody else and therefore, she implicated him falsely. “The prosecution has, thus succeeded in proving the charge against the accused only under section 377 Pakistan Penal Code beyond a reasonable shadow of doubt, therefore this point is answered accordingly,” the final verdict declared.
“This has become a seminal case where conviction of a spouse took place for sexual abuse,” Haya said enthusiastically.
They can recontest the conviction of three years which is much less than that of rape, but this may damage the case as it would be put to trial again and because the victim has gone through a lot, this will be draining for her too.
Response over conviction
Social media is mostly celebrating the verdict. BOL Network contacted LAS, and Advocate Safia Lakho represented them in their morning session where she not only explained the proceedings of the case but explained how this case will be a trailblazer in the legal history of Pakistan. “So many women, oblivious of the law itself, silently enduring the pain daily, have got to know about their rights through this judgment and it is a great achievement indeed,” she said.
However, some critics are saying this is not a case of marital rape, this is sodomy. Haya reinstated, “The definition of rape has changed as per law; this is rape happening in the context of a spousal relationship which is the highest form of intimate partner violence that there can be. We are acknowledging it as the first ever conviction of marital rape under the changed definition of rape which is in place since 2021”.
Interpretation of the verdict in the Islamic context
To understand the popular claims and interpretations used by the masses to either condemn or appreciate the conviction of marital rape I talked to multiple scholars including Mufti Mohammad Sohail Ahmad who is an MPhil in Usool-e-Din (Principles of Religion) from International Islamic University, Islamabad, now serving in Nottingham, UK. He delineated the basic principles as laid by the main text of the Qur’an: In Islamic schools of thought, there are two ways to go about it: Hadd and Tazir.
Hadd is equivalent to a death sentence, implying that strict action needs to be taken for the severity of the crime. Tazir on the other hand is a punishment for an offence that is culpable, and this is to be decided by the ruler or a judge according to the severity of the crime. It is strongly impermissible for a man to have sexual intercourse with his wife when she is menstruating. The other thing that is frowned upon by the laws of Islam is sodomy or unnatural sex- a crime strongly punishable by Islam.
Three-quarters of Islamic schools of thought consider Hadd to be implemented in cases of sodomy.
Image taken from @_Abdullah_Salehon X
The other scholar I consulted was Dr. Fazal-e-Hannan who is a PhD from Punjab University, Lahore and is serving as Sheik-ul-Hadith in Jamia Nazamia, Lahore. The unanimous response lays out the condemnation of the act of sodomy and applause for the verdict of the court. “It is good precedent set by the court,” Mufti Sohil Ahmad asserted, “making most of the latest medical and technological advancement to identify these crimes is a welcome change in Pakistan.”
As for the fact of a man forcing himself over his wife and inflicting pain upon her, they agreed that it is liable for a punishment. Islam stresses that husbands ought to be kind and considerate about the emotional, mental, and physical state of the wife. Allah says, “and live with them in kindness” [Quran 4:19] It is even stressed by the Prophet (SAW) as he said: “Be kind to your wives.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, in one of his lectures, emphasized that the relationship of a husband and wife is mutual and there is no other opinion about it.
However, the bottom line is that there are protocols of Islam that need to be followed for sexual intimacy. If violated, then needs to be dealt with accordingly.
Repudiation of implied consent theory
Advocate Nimra Arshad in her explainer describes that many people use religion to describe their chauvinistic views about the concept of marital rape whereas Islam is the same religion which provides women the protection, kindness and care they deserve in a marriage and if that is not given, there is a reasonable exit available too.
Pakistan’s law is essentially an extension of British law as proposed by Sir Matthew Hale who believed that a marriage perpetually gives man consent to treat his wife as a property. This implied consent theory is long been amended in the UK under Sexual Offences Act 2003 where spousal rape now falls under sexual assault, but the remnants of that law are very much intact in our country.
Final thoughts
Sher Bano has paved the way for women to not submit to unjust and violent behaviour in the name of marriage. This case also highlights the importance of support of the family which makes a woman invincible, especially in a society like ours. As much as raising awareness is the duty of the state, it is equally a compulsion for it to ensure the safety of citizens by making pertinent, pragmatic, and bold laws. Not recognizing marital rape as the highest form of intimate partner violence is a fact that remains in place till today.
Arriving on a rickety boat in western Indonesia from squalid Bangladesh camps after weeks at sea late last year, hundreds of Rohingya refugees came to shore only to be turned around and pushed back.
The persecuted Myanmar minority were previously welcomed in the ultra-conservative Aceh province, with many locals sympathetic because of their own long history of war. But a wave of more than 1,500 refugees in recent months has been treated differently.
A spate of online misinformation in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation has stoked what experts say is rising anti-Rohingya sentiment culminating in pushback, hate speech and attacks.
In December, hundreds of university students entered a government function hall in Banda Aceh city hosting 137 Rohingya, chanting, kicking refugees’ belongings and demanding they be deported. The refugees were relocated.
“The attack is not an isolated act but the result of a coordinated online campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech,” the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said.
On social media, anti-Rohingya videos have been spreading since late last year, racking up more than 90 million views on TikTok alone in November, according to Hokky Situngkir, TikTok analyst at Bandung Fe Institute.
It began after some local media outlets reported the Rohingya’s arrival with sensational headlines, said Situngkir.
The reports have framed the mostly Muslim Rohingya as criminals with bad attitudes and Indonesian community leaders have reinforced this narrative.
Some TikTok users have reshared the sensational articles and videos, which would help generate more views and money.
“Sometimes when the sensation is too big, it turns out to be misinformation,” Situngkir told AFP.
Victims of human traffickers
President Joko Widodo has called for action against human traffickers responsible for smuggling Rohingya and said “temporary humanitarian assistance will be provided” to refugees while prioritizing local communities.
But a few days after the attack on a refugee shelter, the Indonesian navy pushed away a Rohingya boat approaching the Aceh coast.
Jakarta — not a signatory of the UN refugee convention — has appealed to neighboring countries to do more to take in the Rohingya.
On TikTok, dozens of fake UNHCR accounts have flooded Rohingya videos with comments.
“If you don’t want to help, just give them one empty island so they can live there,” one read, presented as if it was written by a real UNHCR account.
A post sharing a report that Indonesia’s Vice President Ma’ruf Amin was considering moving the refugees to an island was viewed three million times.
A verified account wrote underneath: “Big no! It is better to expel them, no use in sheltering them.”
Ismail Fahmi, analyst for social media monitor Drone Emprit, told AFP the narrative “seems coordinated” but presented as if “it was organic.”
The campaign started with posts from anonymous confession accounts, and then several users with large followings replied with anti-Rohingya messages, making the narrative appear to be trending, he said.
Locals say social media is making such anti-Rohingya sentiment appear widespread, but that was not reflected across Aceh day-to-day.
“It seems massive when we observe it on social media,” said Aceh fishermen community secretary-general Azwir Nazar, acknowledging that Rohingya defenders online were treated as a “common enemy.”
But, he said, “In reality, in our daily lives, things seem normal.”
Stoking anti-Rohingya feelings Some of the most viewed videos peddling misinformation showed overcrowded vessels claiming to be ships carrying Rohingya to Indonesia.
The footage, viewed millions of times on TikTok, actually showed ferry passengers on domestic Bangladesh routes, according to an AFP Fact Check investigation.
Another video claimed Rohingya damaged an East Java refugee center — more than 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) from Aceh.
Rohingya in Aceh
An AFP Fact Check investigation debunked the claim through interviews with authorities who said the perpetrators were not Rohingya.
The videos were uploaded on TikTok and video platform Snack, then reposted on other social media sites like Facebook and by local media outlets with millions of followers, boosting the misinformation’s reach, AFP’s Fact Check team found.
AFP, along with more than 100 fact-checking organizations, is paid by TikTok and Facebook parent Meta to verify videos that potentially contain false information.
Both organizations declined AFP requests for comment.
Some videos and comments were also related to this month’s presidential election.
Some mocked candidate Anies Baswedan, saying he supports the Rohingya because he recommended they be housed “in a separate place” to avoid conflict. Others praised front-runner and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto who has said Indonesia should “prioritize our people.”
But in several presidential debates so far, the candidates have not mentioned Rohingya migration.
For some in Aceh, anti-Rohingya feelings have stemmed from frustration at a lack of a government solution.
But the inflated anti-refugee posts have left them wondering if that feeling is genuine.
“Only Allah knows whether (the posts are) all humans,” said Nazar.
“Or perhaps, with the technology now, there might be AI or robots involved.”
A special advisory has been issued for tourists after the increase in the number of tourists due to snowfall in Murree.
The district administration of Islamabad has decided to stop tourists at the 17-mile point, reports Geo.
According to DC Islamabad Irfan Memon, the decision to stop the entry of tourists to Murree was taken due to the increase in rush as tourists make their way to the hill station to enjoy snowfall.
Irfan Memon says that more tourists will be allowed to enter when the rush eases, adding that the decision was taken after consultation with the Murree district administration.
Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Taimur Khan has said that awareness pamphlets are being given to the tourists coming to Murree at the entry points.
According to the CTO, only license-holder drivers are allowed to enter Murree, tourists traveling to Murree should use anti-cooling liquid in the vehicle and chain the vehicle tires during snowfall, tourists should also bring extra warm clothes and glasses while driving. Do not cover the exhaust completely as this produces deadly carbon monoxide.
Taimur Khan said that visiting tourists should not park their vehicles wrongly as there is limited parking space in the city.
It is to be noted that back in January 2022, At least 21 people died of hypothermia after heavy snow trapped them in their vehicles as tens of thousands of visitors thronged the resort town of Murree.
A kidnapped 22-year-old MPhil graduate, Talha Arshad, was found fatally shot in the head, despite his family allegedly having paid Rs2.5 million in ransom to his abductors. His grieving family staged a protest demonstration at Rafiq Shah Chowk against the police after placing the body on the spot.
The victim, a resident of Mohalla Telianwala, had recently completed his MPhil from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. On the day he went missing he left home on a motorcycle on January 17 but did not return.
Upon a lawyer’s intervention, the police registered a kidnapping case on January 18, filed by Talha’s brother Irfan Arshad.
The abductors had sent a video of Talha tied with a rope, through WhatsApp on January 21, demanding a ransom of Rs10 million for his release. Despite the family sending Rs2.5 million to the cryptocurrency account specified by the kidnappers, Talha was not released, reports The Express Tribune.
However, on Wednesday, Talha’s tortured body, locked in a suitcase, was discovered in a well near an upscale neighborhood.
Kamran Arshad, the victim’s brother, alleged that the police had acted as silent spectators when the victim’s phone was active on January 21 and 23. The police reportedly found the location of the deceased’s mobile phone in Bahawalnagar and Donga Bonga, initiating searches in the areas. The DPO’s spokesperson Zahid Rasool said the police were actively engaged in the matter, collaborating with the victim’s family.
In response to protesters’ demands, the SHO was removed from the local police station and an inquiry against him initiated.
The police’s efforts to trace the suspects were reportedly hindered as the perpetrators used VPN to conceal their location.
Peshawar High Court has directed authorities in the province to establish a separate queue for transgender voters in PK-81 from where trans rights activist Sobia Khan is contesting elections as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s first transgender individual participating in general polls.
The court’s verdict highlighted the absence of specific documents for the transgender quota, as no such provision currently exists. Additionally, the court-mandated security measures for transgender candidate Subiya during the general elections, where she is running independently in PK-81.
Who is Sobia Khan?
Sobia is hailing from Peshawar and she has filed nomination papers for the provincial assembly seat from constituency PK-81. She is running her campaign as an independent candidate.
Notably, Sobia Khan, a graduate and the first transgender broadcaster in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been hosting TNN’s “Sobiya Khan Show” for the past four years.
Sobia welcomed the court ruling. Talking to Tribal News Network, Sobia detailed her broader goals, aiming not only to champion transgender rights but also to challenge societal perceptions. She aspires to work for the welfare of the constituency, particularly focusing on the rights of women and children, breaking stereotypes about the capabilities of transgenders.
Sobia Khan, backed by her family and local support, appealed to NGOs, civil society, and the district administration for assistance in her election campaign. Acknowledging the unprecedented nature of a transgender participating directly in elections, she stressed the need for security during her campaign.
The boy’s father said: “I had zero chance to react to it, it was unbelievable how fast he climbed up there. I was watching him and then I was talking to my children,” cites Sky News.
While Mr Hopper was worried about his son, he said he “couldn’t help but laugh thinking ‘how has this happened?’ because he wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t sad, so it was easy to have a laugh when he was having the time of his life”.
“But then reality sunk in – how am I going to get him out,” he added, before sharing he called the claw machine company.
“They were asking me how much money I had put in the machine [and if the money was] stuck in the machine.
“My response was ‘The only thing stuck in the machine is my child, I’d love to have him back’.”
After police arrived at the scene, they told Ethan to climb to the corner of the machine and cover his eyes so they could break him loose.
An officer then broke the glass window and safely lifted Ethan out of the machine – before reuniting him with his parents.
Ethan, who was gifted a toy koala dressed as a police officer after the ordeal, told Mr Hopper: “Don’t worry Dad, I won’t do it again.”
A pigeon that spent eight months in Indian police custody has been released after it was finally cleared of being a suspected Chinese spy.
The bird was caught at a port in the financial capital Mumbai with “messages written in a Chinese-like script” on its wings, the Times of India newspaper reported.
“Initially, the police had registered a case of spying against the bird, but after completing their inquiry, they dropped the charge,” the report added.
The unnamed bird was held under lock and key at a city hospital while police carried out an investigation.
That probe took an “astonishing eight months”, the India office of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said in a Thursday statement.
PETA India said police had granted “formal permission for the hospital to release the pigeon” on Wednesday.
Local media reports said the bird fluttered away in good health.
The pigeon is the latest of several detained by Indian authorities on suspicion of espionage.
Border security officers took a pigeon into custody in 2016 after it was found carrying a threatening message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi close to India’s border with arch-rival Pakistan.
In 2020, police in Indian-controlled Kashmir released a pigeon belonging to a Pakistani fisherman after a probe found that the bird, which had flown across the heavily militarized border between the nuclear-armed nations, was not a spy.
In a significant move aimed at promoting democratic participation, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has officially declared a public holiday on February 8, coinciding with scheduled general elections in the country. The decision, made under the powers vested in the ECP by Article 218 of the Constitution, aims to facilitate and encourage voters to exercise their right to franchise without any hindrance.
A notification released by the Election Commission of Pakistan states, ” In exercise of powers conferred under Article 218 of the Constitution read with Section (4) and 8(c) of the Elections Act, 2017 (Act No. XXXIII of 2017), and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Election Commission of Pakistan is pleased to declare public holiday on 08th February, 2024 in the country in order to enable the voters to exercise their right of franchise freely and conveniently.”
The strategic move aligns with the democratic principles of the nation, emphasizing the importance of every eligible voter’s participation in shaping the country’s future. By designating February 8 as a public holiday, the Election Commission aims to eliminate potential obstacles that might deter individuals from partaking in the electoral process.
It has been decided to keep all educational institutions closed from February 6 to 9 in Sindh.
According to Sindh Education Department, all private and commercial schools, colleges, and universities will remain closed from February 6 to 9 due to general elections in the country.
The Education Department said that February 5 has already been announced as Kashmir Day holiday in the province.
A vacation summary has been sent to the Chief Minister House, while the notification will be issued after approval.
On Wednesday, the Punjab Cabinet decided to keep all schools, colleges and universities closed from February 6 to 9 as general elections, scheduled for February 8, approach.
