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ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to establish anti-rape cells in every district of the county in order to curb the growing incidents of sexual assault.
According to a notification issued by the government, the Federal Ministry of Law constituted the 42-member Anti-Rape Ordinance Implementation Committee to be headed by PTI leader Maleeka Bokhari. Barrister Ambreen Abbasi will be the secretary of the committee
It also includes Justice (retd) Nasira Javid Iqbal; advisers to the law ministry Hasan Mehmood and Zahoor Ahmed as well as representatives of the Ministry of Human Rights, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior, the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) and provincial forensic agencies. The committee will present its recommendations to the prime minister.
The ministry said the crisis cells in every district will be led by the respective deputy commissioner and will assist the rape victims. Each cell will also include the respective district police officer and health officer of the district.
The Anti-Rape Ordinance Implementation Committee will also appoint an independent support officer for every cell, the law ministry said.
On November 27, 2020, the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases approved two ordinances to introduce harsher punishments for sex offenders including chemical castration and setting up special courts for rape cases.
The Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance, 2020 and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 introduced the concept of chemical castration mainly as a form of rehabilitation, according to a statement issued by the law ministry.
“The two-state of the art pieces of legislation are in line with the Constitutional guarantees of Pakistan, as also the International treaties,” it read. These laws provide mechanisms to curb sexual abuse crimes against women and children.
