Court wants an update on reforms in investigations of rape cases

Police were directed to follow SC’s guidelines to streamline process of investigations

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought on Thursday a report from the provincial government on the status of implementation of the Supreme Court's guidelines on reforming the investigation process of rape cases in the province.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, told Additional Advocate-General Shabbir Shah to submit the report and adjourned hearing for four weeks.

Three gang-rape survivors, including Kainat Soomro, had approached the court alleging that the provincial government was not complying with the SC's guidelines on reforming the process of investigation into cases of assaults on women.

In the petition, one of the survivors had said that a case was registered against her alleged rapists but they were acquitted by a sessions court. Another victim said she was gang-raped by 10 men but only one was convicted.

The third petitioner had told the judges that her case was still pending disposal in the court concerned as the suspects were trying to influence the case in their favour.



The petitioners said the Supreme Court had earlier directed the authorities to reform the investigation of rape cases and establish rescue cells across the province.

They pleaded to the court to order the provincial authorities to set-up a specialised DNA testing lab with trained doctors appointed to conduct the procedures. It was also urged to ensure that survivors were not made to face the accused and their witnesses during the trials.

In the petition, the court was also requested to order the Sindh inspector-general of police to ensure that investigation officers submit charge-sheets in rape cases within 15 days.

On Thursday, the provincial government's law officer informed the bench that the government had made reforms to ensure the accused persons involved in sexual offences were punished by courts of law.

At this, the judges told the law officer to submit a report explaining to what extent the government had implemented the SC's guidelines. The hearing was adjourned for four weeks.

Government's stance

On an earlier hearing, the Sindh government had informed the court that it had ordered its health, home, police, prosecution and all other relevant departments to follow the apex court’s guidelines on reforming the investigation process of rape cases.

It was informed that the provincial chief secretary had held a meeting with the officials of the departments concerned and discussed the issue. The officials were directed to deal with rape cases in the light of the court's guidelines.



The social welfare department was directed to prepare a list of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that specialised in dealing with cases of assault and had adequate human resources in their areas. These lists will be provided to the Sindh police chief and then distributed to SSPs, SHOs and investigation officers so that police could contact the relevant NGOs for assistance when dealing with a rape case, the court was told.

It was also informed that the provincial assembly had enacted the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) (Sindh Amendment) Act, 2016 in which, through the incorporation of Section 156-C, DNA tests had been made mandatory in every rape case. Similarly, Section 156-D has also made it mandatory to maintain the privacy of the samples and results of the DNA tests.

The court was informed that the home department had directed the Sindh IG and prosecutor-general to ensure that the statements of rape survivors were recorded as a mandatory procedure under Section 164 of the CrPC.

The home department has also ordered the provincial police chief and the prosecutor-general to ensure that in-camera trials of rape cases were conducted after regular court hours and the privacy of the survivors and witnesses was protected.



The heads of the police and prosecution departments have also been instructed to ensure that the statements of rape survivors were recorded through video-conferencing so that they or juveniles did not have to appear in court.

The home department had written a letter to the IG on October 1, 2016 requesting the posting of female police officers, not below the rank of a head constable, at every police station in the province. This step will make it easier for the survivors and their families to approach police stations, the court was assured.

Furthermore, the IG was instructed to ensure that no rape survivor was made to stay the night at a police station. The social welfare department will ensure that the superintendents of Darul Amans (foster homes for women) provide shelter to the survivors till a formal order is issued by the authorities concerned.