The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice, chaired by Senator Syed Ali Zafar, on Wednesday approved the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trail) Bill, 2021 stipulating the formation of special courts to hear rape cases.
The National Assembly passed the bill on June 10 after that it was moved by Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem on June 15. It will now be tabled in the Senate for approval, as per DAWN.
The bill has the following clauses:
The provision of the virginity test has been removed.
If one is proven guilty, they could face a death sentence, life imprisonment, or undergo chemical castration.
Investigation officials could also face a penalty if they tried to mislead case proceedings in any capacity.
The suspects will be provided facilities to prove their innocence.
Instead of retired ones, serving judges will be appointed to the special courts.
Opposition reaction
PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar suggested that the parliament must monitor the performance of special courts means that the legislature could make changes to the law if issues continue to transpire.
His party mate Raza Rabbani said he didn’t believe that constitution of special courts was required for hearing rape cases.
Furthermore, Azam Nazeer Tarar of the PML-N said similar courts were also established in the past, but they didn’t very helpful.
Prior to this last year after the motorway incident, President Arif Alvi approved the anti-rape ordinance and had said that special courts would be established throughout the country for speedy trials of sexual assault suspects. The courts would have to wrap up the cases within four months.
