Handling of rape cases

The conduct of authorities in the rape case raises fears that justice may not be served.

It is hard to ensure that justice will be served when authorities are not convinced that a heinous crime has been committed. The response of the police to the gang rape of a young woman in Karachi shows that they are indulging in odious blame-the-victim behaviour. It is not their job to cast aspersions on the moral character of victims or pass comment on their testimony. It is also inappropriate for anyone — be it the media or politicians — to identify rape victims by name, as happened in this case. There is a longstanding directive from the Supreme Court to not name rape victims unless they themselves wish to come out in the open, as was the case with Mukhtaran Mai. This is a universally accepted norm, as it brings undue attention to the victim and takes focus away from punishing the culprits.

The conduct of authorities in this case raises fears that justice may not be served. Sources in the police have hinted that the suspects may have strong political connections. As we saw in the Dr Shazia Khalid rape case of 2005, political clout can be an impediment to justice. It has been established by a medico-legal report that the woman had been raped. Now it is the media’s job to ensure that the case doesn’t suffer from collective amnesia once the initial flurry of attention has died down.

There is an urgent need to review Pakistan’s rape laws. In 2006, Pervez Musharraf’s government stipulated that rape cases be tried in civil rather than Sharia courts. However, if a woman is unable to prove that she has been raped, she can be tried for adultery in both courts. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimates that a rape occurs in Pakistan every two hours and a gang rape every eight hours. Not all these women are able to prove that they have been raped. Until laws against rape are modernised, justice for rape survivors will only be partially served.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2010.