Senate rejects bill seeking public hanging of rape convicts

Senate on Monday, rejected a bill seeking public hanging of rape convicts!

The bill was presented by Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed at the upper house of the Pakistani parliament.

Out of the 38, 24 voted against the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023, aimed at amending the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, and Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.

While 14 senators expressed support for the bill.

Those who opposed the bill called for improved prosecutions, investigations for combating sexual crimes, and a better jail environment to ensure that such heinous crimes are averted in the future.

Defending his proposal after it had been defeated, Mushtaq Ahmed said the senators did not talk about the “basic issue” and noted that the lawmakers spoke about “brutality” becoming rife due to public executions, but it’s already rife.

“I want to halt brutality through public executions. Did the motorway rape case woman and Zainab have no respect? [How] does a rapist have respect?” Senator Mushtaq Ahmed wondered, claiming that publicly hanging such criminals would act as a “deterrence”.

The tabled bill was supported by Senators Mehr Taj Roghani, Kamran Murtaza, Maulana Faiz Muhammad, Hafiz Abdul Kareem, Kamal Ali Agha, Abdul Qadir, and others.

While the bill faced opposition primarily from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and National Party.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman strongly opposed the proposal, calling it a counter-effective measure in deterring sexual crimes, and urged improved prosecutions and investigations to address the matter.

Speaking during the session of the Senate, Sherry Rehman said: “The Peoples Party has always had a principled stance against the death penalty, whether public or private.”

“While the PPP staunchly condemns rape as a heinous and grave crime, calling for the death penalty or public executions, as seen in various countries, have not proven to be effective in deterring sexual crimes. We must prioritise enhancing prosecutions and investigations rather than resorting to barbarism and violence within society,” Senator Sherry Rehman added.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Senator Sadia Abbasi said that she opposed the bill as it would make the society more violent.

“People were publicly flogged in this country, we saw the reaction that took place within the nation and abroad,”Senator Sadia Abbasi said.

PML-N’s Senator Ishaq Dar also opposed the bill, noting that the death penalty exists in the law.

He also deemed the bill “inappropriate” and said that criminals should not be publicly executed.