Senate panel passes bill seeking public hangings of child abusers

ISLAMABAD – The Senate Standing Committee on Interior Tuesday passed a bill that seeks public hangings of child sexual abusers amid opposition of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The committee that met under the chair of Senator A. Rehman Malik passed Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2020, moved by PML-N lawmaker Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi, with majority of vote.

Leader of the House Dr Shahzad Waseem staged a protest walkout from the meeting while opposing the proposed law. He opposed it on the ground that the government was also in process of bringing similar law through an Ordinance.

Senator Rehman Malik was of the view that strong legislation suggesting stringent punishment must be formulated to deal with the ever-growing cases of child abuse across the country. The bill was passed after consideration and discussion.

After passage of the bill, chairman committee asserted that this bill has been passed according to rules. He also directed that the Ordinance which has already been notified by the government should also be clubbed with the bill during the stage of its consideration. He said that stringent measures such as recommended in the bill were the need of the hour to be taken against those who commit such heinous crimes.  

The bill seeks to amend section 376 of the PPC. It provides high courts to conduct trial of sexual offences against children and sets a timeframe of 30 days for completion of trial. It also sets two months’ time for the Supreme Court to decide upon the appeals.  

The bill also bans the provision of a compromise by the families of the children who become victims of sexual abuse, with the offenders. 

Rehman Malik says strong legislation suggesting stringent punishment must be formulated to deal with growing cases of child abuse

“In Pakistan, rape cases are reported and registered, however, the conviction rates of the accused are abysmally low. Recent events relating to sexual abuse and rape throughout the country, particularly against the children, have necessitated that tough punishments should be doled out to the perpetrators,” says the statement of objects and reasons of the bill. “Current penalties are less compared to the magnitude of the crime. The bill aims to increase the punishment of rape as one of the deterrents to this heinous crime.” 

The committee also passed another criminal laws (amendment) bill, moved by Senator Javed Abbasi, which provides for sentence of sexual crimes against the dead bodies. 

Senator Rehman Malik speaking on the bill said that reports of cases of raping the human corpse were heart wrenching and such criminals should be dealt with iron fist and stringent laws. “There is a dire need to make a law which could deter the offenders.” 

He directed that all graveyards across the country shall be provided with boundary walls and monitoring system / CCTV cameras so that dignity and respect of human corpse could be ensured.  

The Fatal Accidents (Amendment) Bill, 2020, introduced by Senator Javed Abbasi, was also considered and passed. 

Senator A. Rehman Malik said that these amendments seek to ensure speedy justice and enable legal heirs of the victims to compensation in case of death in fatal accidents in the Islamabad Capital Territory. 

Condemnation of Indian Brutalities in IOK: Chairman Committee Senator A. Rehman Malik during the meeting strongly condemned the Indian atrocities in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). He said that the siege in Kashmir has entered its 547th day and stressed that the government must raise this issue very strongly at all international forums including United Nations.  He said that since day first this committee has been marking these days as ‘Dark Days’ in the history of mankind and has been expressing solidarity with Kashmiri brothers and sisters who were struggling for their legitimate right of self-determination under UNSC Resolutions.  

He further said that the government must present the report of EU DisinfoLab to FATF in its session scheduled to take place virtually from February 22 to 25 as the report exposes Indian malicious and fake propaganda against Pakistan. “Keeping in view the activities of Indian Chronicles exposed by DisinfoLab, we hope that FATF would delist Pakistan from its grey list and hope it would take no politically motivated decision this time.” He said that the restrictions imposed because of FATA grey list were hurting country’s economy. The committee urged FATF to either permanently remove the name of Pakistan from its grey list or extend further grace period in wake of coronavirus outbreak.  

 

Coronavirus Vaccination: Regarding Pakistan’s vaccination campaign against Covid-19, chairman committee thanked the Chinese Government for donating 0.5 million doses of the vaccine to Pakistan and urged the federal government to take measures to ensure that vaccines are made available to the whole population for free. He said that mere 500,000 doses were not an answer to the deadly pandemic. He urged the federal government to establish vaccine centers in every province and the vaccine should be provided to all provinces.  He said that coordination between center and provinces should be increased to combat Covid-19 effectively. He expressed that if India can make its own anti-Covid vaccine, why can’t Pakistan?  

Leader of the House Senator Dr Shahzad Waseem assured the meeting that the government had formulated a plan to ensure that every citizen of Pakistan, regardless of social stature, has access to the vaccine. 

Consideration of Public Petition: Taking up the public petition regarding matter of Main Jamia Mosque Thanvi, Jacob Line Karachi which was referred by Chairman Senate, Senator A. Rehman Malik took notice of the matter and assured the petitioner former Senator Maulana Tanvirul Haq Thanvi of the committee’s complete support. He directed that it would be ensured that no harm is made to the mosque. Chairman Committee referred the matter to Director FIA Sindh and directed to report within 15 days and also directed Sindh Police to assist the complainant and address his grievances on merit.  

The committee also expressed grave concerns over the increasing cases of drug abuse within the country especially in educational institutions. Senator A. Rehman Malik asserted that the committee must play its due role in curbing this menace.  He advised Senator Javed Abbasi on behalf of the committee to work on the issue and bring some legislation on it.  

At the conclusion of the meeting, Chairman Committee directed the FIA to present a detailed briefing on the Oil Marketing Companies allegedly involved in the artificial shortage of petroleum products in June, 2020.