Islamabad: The Pakistan Parliament approved a new legislation that aims to speed up convictions and impose stricter sentences to sex offenders. According to the newly passed bill, culprits convicted of multiple rapes in Pakistan could face chemical castration as punishment.
The bill came as response to a public outcry against a recent hike in incidents of rape of women and children in the country, and growing demands for effectively curbing the crime. The bill was passed almost a year after President Arif Alvi approved the new anti-rape ordinance that was cleared by the Pakistan Cabinet, approving the chemical castration of rapists with the consent of the convict and setting up of special courts for faster trails. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2021 bill was passed along with 33 other bills by the joint session of parliament on Wednesday, which sought to amend the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
‘Chemical castration is a process duly notified by rules framed by the prime minister, whereby a person is rendered incapable of performing sexual intercourse for any period of his life, as may be determined by the court through administration of drugs which shall be conducted through a notified medical board’, the bill stated.
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Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed raised his protest over the bill and termed it un-Islamic and against Sharia. He demanded that the culprits should be hanged publicly, adding that there was no mention of castration in Sharia laws. The opponents of the bill claim that only less than 4% of sexual assault or rape cases in Pakistan result in a conviction.
Chemical castration is the usage of drugs to reduce sexual activity. This reduces sexual desire and erectile function and leads to testicular atrophy, which might become irreversible over the long term. It is an approved legal form of punishment in many countries including South Korea, Poland, Czech Republic and in some states in the US.
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