A man has been accused of holding a woman hostage and raping her for six years at his house in Sujawal.
The woman filed a case against him at a court on Thursday.
She claimed that she has a daughter with him too. The police can get the DNA test done to see who is speaking the truth, the woman said.
The survivor said that the man used to make her inappropriate videos and blackmailed her. He threatened me to not tell anyone or he will upload these videos on social media, she added.
The man is reported to have been working as a bank manager.
Pakistan’s rape laws
Rape is a punishable offence in Pakistan. The definition and punishment for this crime is detailed under Sections 375 and 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
According to the law, a man is said to commit rape when he has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the five following descriptions:
- Against her will
- Without her consent
- With her consent, when the consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of hurt
- With her consent, when the man knows that he is not married to her and that the consent is given because she believes that the man is another person to whom she is or believes herself to be married; or
- With or without her consent when she is under 16 years of age.
The convicted rapists will be sentenced to jail for no less than 10 years or more than 25 years, according to the law. A fine will also be imposed on them.
Previous changes in rape laws
One of the biggest changes in Pakistan’s rape laws was that that rape (zina bil jabr) was finally separated from zina (adultery) and was made an offence under the Pakistan Penal Code instead of the Hudood Ordinance. This change came about in 2006 as a result of the Protection of Women (Criminal Law Amendment) Act 2006. You will find rape in Section 375 of the Pakistan Penal Code now.
Ten years later, the law was changed again, in 2016, to the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offense of Rape) Act 2016. Since the law was changed, not a single woman has been charged with zina and sent to languish in jail and several rape cases were reported and went to court, according to Farieha Aziz of Bolobhi, writing in Newsline magazine eight years ago.
If a public servant doesn’t do their job in a rape case, they can go to jail. Under Section 166(2) of the PPC, if any government servant doesn’t properly investigate a rape case or doesn’t diligently follow it, or doesn’t take the prosecution through to its logical conclusion, they can be sentenced to three years maximum and/or be fined.
The law applies to a police officer, a jailor or a medical examiner. They are not allowed to intentionally create hurdles, mislead, jeopardise or defeat an investigation.
If a public official rapes then there is culpability for that too.
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