Bill in K-P Assembly seeks to get women property rights

The minister says Islamic Sharia provides equal guarantee for the protection of life and property of men and women.

PESHAWAR:

In an effort to protect and secure the ownership rights of women, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Enforcement of Women Ownership Rights Act, 2011 was presented in the K-P Assembly by Provincial Minister Noor Sahar of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

The minister said that Islamic Sharia provides equal guarantee for the protection of life and property of men and women in our society and if the right of inheritance of a woman is only verbal, there should be a strict law that also ensures she gets the property.

The bill cites the 1973 constitution and the Sharia Act 2003 K-P, which describes the term ownership in property of both moveable and immovable objects. The bill also calls for further protection of women, arguing that women’s ownership rights are at stake in Pakistan, and such rights are violated by means of coercion, fraud, fabrication, forgery, and cheating.

It also demands that whoever breaks the law be punished with imprisonment of either a term not exceeding five years or fine not exceeding Rs50,000. Upon conviction, the property should be returned to the rightful owner.

Law minister Arshad Abdullah has said that there is already a law in place which pertains to this issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2011.