A rape victims in Pakistan may get some relief

Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has unanimously decided that a rape victim should not be required to produce four witnesses to file a complaint.
In a series of landmark decisions pertaining to women, the constitutional body of the country's top experts in Islamic law has also ruled that rape (zina-bil-zabr) and adultery - consensual sex other than with spouse (zina-bil-raza) - are two separate crimes.
The decisions, in effect, endorse the Women Protection Law passed after much debate last year that has angered the conservatives and the clergy. They also upturn the 1979 Hudood laws passed during the regime of president Ziaul Haq.
The government may have to further legislate to enforce these provisions that provide considerable relief to women. But this is not going to be easy for President Pervez Musharraf, who is pressing for them, in a year when he has promised general elections.
The CII agreed that, in rape cases, the affected woman would be a complainant, not a defendant.
"In this case, the woman will be a complainant and the state will be bound to investigate, arrest the rapist and punish him if the crime is proved," a CII press release said.
The council observed that a person accused of adultery should be acquitted if the complainant fails to produce four witnesses to prove their point in court.
Once acquitted, the accused could not be punished under any other law unless he/she refused to give a statement under oath or confessed to the crime, the council said.
"In cases of 'lian' where the accused denies by swearing (an oath), confesses, or the charges are proved, the court will decide such cases under the prevailing circumstances," it said.
Musharraf has promised more laws that deal with divorce and some of the long-practised tribal traditions that weigh against women. This has been roundly criticised by the conservatives. The rightwing alliance Muttahida Majlise-e-Amal (MMA) has accused Musharraf of working on these reforms under American pressure.
Courtesy: IM