Rape victims will not be jailed

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

^ That should have been the headline. In any case, its a step in the right direction, even if it doesn’t go all the way.

Rape victim not bound to bring witnesses: CII

ISLAMABAD, March 31: *The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on Saturday said it had decided to recommend to the parliament that �zina bil raza� (consensual sex) and �zina bil jabr� (rape) should be treated as two �distinct and separate crimes�.

�If a female complains of zina bil jabr, she will not be asked to bring four witnesses as in such a case she is a complainant and the state is bound to investigate the crime perpetrated against her,� the CII said in a statement after a meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Prof Khalid Masood. Those who attended the deliberations included Javed Ahmad Ghamdi, Justice Rashid Jallundri, Munir Ahmad Mughal and Dr Manzoor Ahmad.

The CII said that in a case of consensual sex, the accused should be acquitted if four witnesses were not produced.

A zina accused cannot be awarded any punishment under any other law, the council asserted.

The CII observed that the Holy Quran counsels `recourse to education, training and advice� in such cases.

Punishment should be awarded only if four witnesses testify to the crime in a court of law, the statement said.

The council also called upon the parliament to enact laws for discouraging the `growing trend of evicting parents from their homes�.

The CII recommended that ‘Haraba’ and ‘Fasad fil arz’ (mischief on earth) should not be kept limited to dacoity.

�If a murder is committed in the form of terrorism and zina bil jabr, such an offence should also be declared as Haraba and the perpetrators, according to their conditions, should be awarded all the punishments prescribed in Sura Maida of the Holy Quran for the crimes of Haraba and fasad fil arz,� the council said.

The Council of Islamic Ideology decided to hold an international conference on `Current economic issues and Islam� in collaboration with the International Islamic University, Islamabad.�APP

Online adds: An official committee of experts was asked to carry out an overall evaluation of agricultural reforms and ascertain the reasons for their failure to implement.*

2

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

When were the rape victims jailed.

Describe one incident or one law????

3

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Rape victims are often jailed to protect them from their own families.

4

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Mukhtar Mai

But that was just one case, known to public due to international publicity. For more information, please visit your nearest thana!

The way it works is that a woman comes to police claiming she was raped by so and so. She is asked to provide four male witnesses. She can't mainly because people don't rape in the presense of four pious men. The hawaldar says too bad and book her for adultery because her confession was enough, no need for the four pious male witnesses against yourself.

5

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

That is an utter BS.

Mukhtaran mAI WAS NOT jailed.

There was no provision in previous law to put rape victims in jail if they failed to produce four victims. Rather, if they failed 4 victims, the case was registered against accused and accused tried under "Tazir" instead of Had.

This has been discussed to death previously.

6

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Iconoclast Sahib, “At least half of the women in Pakistani prisons are either awaiting trial or have already been convicted under the Hudood laws.”, I suggest you read the whole article.

In the current law, any person can accuse an unmarried woman of adultry as long as she is pregnent, without any proof. She can cry rape all she wants.

7

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Actually you should read the constitutional excerpts that Zia introduced about the Zina laws. It is exactly as described in the thread.

welcome me my chumlies
8

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Death to this stupid CII and its followers. Everyone knows the real muslims r all followers of Amir ul Momineen Mullah Umer. This fatwa is crap and in fact i ma ask my lal masjid khateeb to issue a fatwa against these goons :mad:

9

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

^ :hehe:

10

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Even in case of afran Bibi Federal Shariat Court ruled that pregnancy itself is not a proof of adultery. You can do a google search and find it.

However, what you accuse that a female coming to police station with complain of rape without 4 witnesses was tried is completely wrong. Rather the law stated that if 4 witnesses aren’t available then it can still be persecuuted under Tazir.

**

**

11

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

It seems that you think that you only know what was really happening under Hudud-ul-Zia ordinance in Pakistan and whole world is ignorant idiots.

Read the whole research article below: It is just one of many on the subject.

http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/writings/gender/rape_fiqh.html

** Abstract:** from middle of that article that deals with Pakistan Hudud-ul-Zia law:

** Anyone accused of rape is considered to have been involved in zina (adultery/fornication). The accuser (victim) must then produce four credible male witnesses to give testimony against the accused that he has raped the accuser. If the accuser fails to meet the witness requirement, then the accuser, usually a female, is by default charged of zina and, if convicted, given the punishment prescribed under the Hudood law. If the female does not bring up the accusation of rape, then the woman is by default charged with zina.** Unconsenting sexual intercourse is termed zina-bil-jabr, and carries a *tazir *penalty for the perpetrator of 25 years in prison and 30 lashes; there is also a more severe *hadd *punishment, but, as noted, this has never been carried out. However these penalties offer little protection to women since, **in practice, a woman who has been raped and makes an accusation of zina-bil-jabr is laying herself open to accusations of adultery, and thus to conviction for zina. [Marcus, p. 9]
Many women who, once accused of zina, have claimed to have been rape victims, were charged and imprisoned under this Hudood law, as they failed to produce the supporting witnesses. Thousands of women have been languishing in prisons of Pakistan under this Hudood law. A society that presumably wants to implement such laws for protection of morality and decency seems to be oblivious to the fact that these raped victims are further sexually victimized in prisons by police.

Also, pregnancy without marriage (or a counter-charge of rape) is recognized as a basis for prosecution for zina. It is not difficult to contemplate that a woman can become pregnant due to rape, and even so, it may not be easy in a male-dominated society to bring the charge of rape against the rapist.

12

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

^R u acting thick or what?

Accuser by default is NOT charged with Zina, thats a lie. Was Mukhataran Mai charged with Zina? she did not produce 4 witnesses.

*konfused*
13

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

**Iconoclast:
**

**
It is not me who is thick or have lied, it is you who are thick and ignorant of truth. Person that thinks that he is clever and whole world is thick is actually thick himself.

** [Mukhtaran Mai is lucky that when she got raped, it was Musharraf in power. If it was time of Zia or others, she would have got raped many times more and no one would have even heard her story. If she would have gone to police or court, she could not have produced any witnesses and thus would have been put in jail to languish there for years.

Even to get justice, it is necessary that ruler is just. When rulers are like Zia, how can anyone expect justice? Fortunately, she was raped at a time when people can expect some justice, hence she got some justice.]
**
You asked for one case when a raped victim got punished on zina charge? Here are two cases: [The article below gives the case and reference of that case too, so go and check]. **
**
Reference of the cases are:

Case one: (Mina v. State, 1983 P.L.D. Fed. Shariat Ct 183). Her child was born in prison (Mehdi 1990, 25).

Another similar case:**** (Bibi v. State, 1985 P.L.D. Fed. Shariat Ct. 120).5****.
**
Read this another research article on Pakistani hudud-ul-zia law again:

http://www.crescentlife.com/articles/social%20issues/rape_laws.htm

When this law was enacted in 1977, proponents argued that it enacted the Islamic law of illegal sexual relations. The accuracy of that claim is addressed in detail later.4 First, it is important to note that the application of the Zina Ordinance in Pakistan has placed a new twist and a renewed urgency on the question of its validity. The twist is this: when a zina-bil-jabr case fails for lack of four witnesses, the Pakistani legal system has more than once concluded that the intercourse was therefore consensual, and consequently has charged rape victims with zina***.**

  • A few cases will disturbingly illustrate the concern. **In 1982, fifteen-year-old Jehan Mina became pregnant as a result of a reported rape. Lacking the testimony of four eye-witnesses that the intercourse was in fact rape, Jehan was convicted of zina on the evidence of her illegitimate pregnancy (Mina v. State, 1983 P.L.D. Fed. Shariat Ct 183). Her child was born in prison (Mehdi 1990, 25).

Later, a similar case caused public outcry and drew public attention to the new law. In 1985, Safia Bibi, a sixteen-year-old nearly blind domestic servant reported that she was repeatedly raped by her landlord/employer and his son, and became pregnant as a result. When she charged the men with rape, the case was dismissed for lack of evidence, as she was the only witness against them. Safia, however, being unmarried and pregnant, was charged with zina and convicted on this evidence (Bibi v. State, 1985 P.L.D. Fed. Shariat Ct. 120).5 **

14

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Federal Shariat Court in its ruling in 2002 ruled that pregnancy alone is NOT a proof of adultery in case of Zafran Bibi.

The law is clear:

10.Zina or zina-bil-jabr liable to tazir.
(1)Subject to the provisions of section 7, whoever commits zina or zina-bil-jabr which is not liable to hadd, or** for which proof in either of the forms mentioned in section 8 is not available** and the punishment of qazf liable to hadd has not been awarded to the complainant, or for which hadd may not be enforced under this Ordinance, shall be liable to tazir.

In the two cases above the state seemed to have screwed up, they could have obtained DNA from baby and accused and proved if accusations were correct or not.

15

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

The actual law and what police chooses to practice are two very different things in our homeland.

16

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

this mite help
http://sunnilink.wordpress.com/2006/12/14/mufti-taqi-usmani-on-the-hudood-ordinance-issue/

17

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Those two cases are examples. Actually all cases in Pakistan where women went into prison on Zina charges, they were put in prison due to reason that they could not provide four witnesses of their innocence, be that zina case or rape case.

You should understand that it is impossible to find four witnesses of Zina case or rape case. Just imagine that how can one find four person that saw the penetration of man in woman, with their own eyes?

[Gawah woh jo taang utha kay dekhain kay zina yea zina-bil-jabr hua hay yea nahi, Yani penetration hua yea nahi, aur woh bhie atnay say zaidah jisay zina yea zina-bil-jabr kaha jaa sakay. Umeed hay kay baat samakh may aa gayee hou gee. Aur woh bhie char gawah? Soncho].

Hence, it is obvious that no women could have gone to prison, as finding four witnesses to charge them was impossible. Thus, all went to prison because that is how the law was and that is how the law was implemented in Pakistan.

All women that were put in prison on rape cases or zina cases were imprisoned wrongly. They should not have been there. But they were, right or wrong? Do you believe that there were women in prison on zina cases or not? And if they were, you tell me that what law cause them to get imprisoned?

So, on what basis these girls were in prison? Were they not in prison on charges of accusation? Do you agree on that or not? Now what accusation? Is it not that they had sex outside marriage?

**Thus, under hudud-ul-Zia, a girl could have gone to prison on accussation of Zina.

Now if law allows someone to be put into prison on accusation of zina, then can’t you understand that, any raped girl when could not provide four witnesses, anyone can accuse her of zina, right?** No denial that she did not had sex as she calims she got raped, right? Her confession itself could become prove against her, right? So, any person, that includes police, can accuse her of illegal sex and then on that accusation, police can put her in prison. Right?. **

And that is what police use to do in Pakistan. OK? That is the reason so many girls were in prison on zina charges, OK?.**

True, police did not use to put them into prison on charges of rape, but they use to put them into prison on charges of Zina. Those charges were based on police accusation that the girl had done zina, because the girl admits of sex when she admitted that she was raped.

Thus her confession of rape used to provide reason for police to accuse her of zina, and thus put her in prison on charges of zina. Now, she can only come out of that zina accusation if she can prove by providing four witnesses that she did not do zina but she was raped, else the charges of zina use to stand.

She did not use to get hadd punishment unless she becomes pregnant because of that rape, its because to give hadd punishment, proof of zina is that she got pregnant, or she had to confess in court four times or four witnesses become available. Obviously, no rape girl or any girl accused of zina confessed in court four times that she did zina, hence the most they use to suffer is being imprisoned for years.

The above two cases that came on surface was because girls became pregnant in result of rape and government wanted to give hadd punishment, thus all those hue and cry.

Did you get it? I hope you did.

18

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Those two cases were screwed up by police and state, Shariat Court has already ruled that pregnancy is not by default a proof of adultery.

But yoy keep arguing that all those women who are in jails are on these charghes. You are wrong.

Was Mukhtaran Mai put in jail? Was Dr Shazia jailed? I do not know of ANY SINGLE WOMEN OR CASE REPORTED in press that a women went to police station with charges of rape and was arrested on charge of Zina. If there is one enlighten us.

19

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Saleem please give the link i posted a try. Humble request.

20

Re: Rape victims will not be jailed

Icon, over 60% of the women languishing in jails are there due to the crimes of honor, under the false charges of adultary and promiscuity brought upon or against them by their own people and family.

I don't know about the rape victims being jailed but then one cannot rule out the possibility. To Dr. Shazia Khalid and Mukhtar Mai, the entire country would have looked like a jail, honestly. The way these women were intimidated, asked to keep mum about whatever happened with them was indeed shameful and when they complained, all hell broke lose. Our dear President doesn't squirm from saying that these women asked for it and they do it on purpose, such as to get the canadian visa.