wow...how enlightenedISLAMABAD: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on Saturday unanimously decided that a victim of rape (zina-bil-jabr) should not be required to produce four witnesses to file a complaint. The CII agreed that in rape cases, the affected woman would be a complainant, not a defendant. “In this case, the woman will be a complainant and the state will be bound to investigate, arrest the rapist and punish him if the crime is proved,” a press release of the CII said.
The council also stressed that rape (zina-bil-jabr) and consensual sex with someone other than a spouse (zina-bil-raza) are separate crimes. It observed that a person accused of adultery should be acquitted if the complainant fails to produce four witnesses to prove their point in court. Once acquitted, the accused could not be punished under any other law unless he/she refused to give a statement under oath or confessed to the crime, the council said.
“In cases of ‘lian’ where the accused denies by swearing [an oath], confesses, or the charges are proved, the court will decide such cases under the prevailing circumstances” the CII said.
The council said that only dacoity should not be treated as ‘Fasad fil Arz’ and ‘Haraba’ (schism, violence and chaos on earth). It said that offences like terrorism and rape were also Fasad fil Arz and Haraba, and the perpetrators of these acts should be given such punishments as set out in Sura Maida of the Quran.
It decided that being a Muslim was not mandatory for a judge if the law of the land had been drafted formally. A Hindu judge, Rana Bhagwandas, was recently appointed acting chief justice of Pakistan, though some religious groups have complained that a non-Muslim cannot head the countryÂ’s apex court.
The council called upon parliament to legislate to prevent children from removing their elderly parents from their homes. It demanded that the government form a commission of experts to review reforms in agriculture and point out why they were not implemented. It also decided to hold an international conference on ‘Islam and social problems’ in collaboration with the International Islamic University, Islamabad.