ISLAMABAD: Senate rejected a bill seeking to publicly execute those convicted of rape with a majority vote on Monday, with parliamentarians strongly opposing the idea as a “counter-effective measure in deterring sexual crimes”.
The upper house of parliament rejected the move to amend the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, and Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, through the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023 with a 24:14 vote.
The bill presented by Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed was supported by Senators Mehr Taj Roghani, Kamran Murtaza, Maulana Faiz Muhammad, Hafiz Abdul Kareem, Kamal Ali Agha, Abdul Qadir, and others.
The senators who had voted against 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, JI’s Mushtaq 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?” he wondered, claiming that publicly hanging such criminals would act as a “deterrence”.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Faiz Muhammad, backing Mushtaq, said that culprits who commit such heinous crimes should be hanged publicly.
Voicing concerns, 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, she 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.”
