Whenever I read or hear any story related to RAPE, the Hudood Ordinance comes in my mind, it is a law in Pakistan enacted by Zia in 1979. Many of my friends are unaware about the bitter fact of life, a women is subject in so called Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
I was shocked to hear from one of my Parliamentarian friend, he narrated a story of a blind girl of Lahore, who was brutally raped by two men ‘they were father and son’, blind lady pleaded in front of the court, because she could not produce four witnesses, she was jailed for committing adultery.
Following text is intended to share with my friends for broadening their perspective, a step towards creation of social awareness leading to better society, where rights of women are protected. Here is Hudood Ordinance excerpts;
The ordinance has been criticized as leading to "hundreds of incidents where a woman subjected to rape, or even gang rape, was eventually accused of Zina" and incarcerated.
The ordinance is most criticized for making it exceptionally difficult and dangerous to prove an allegation of rape. A woman alleging rape is required to provide four adult male witnesses of good standing of "the act of penetration". In practice this is virtually impossible as no man of good standing would stand there and watch the violent act. Failure to find such proof of the rape places the woman at risk of prosecution for accusing an innocent man of adultery, which does not require such strong evidence. Moreover, to prove rape the female victim has to admit that sexual intercourse had taken place. If the alleged offender, however, is acquitted for want of further evidence the woman now faces charges for either adultery, if she is married, or for fornication, if she is not married.
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