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Pakistani Senate approves amendments to rape law
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 24, 2006
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's Senate overcame opposition from hard-line Muslim lawmakers and amended its rape law Thursday to make it easier to prosecute sexual assault cases. Human rights activists have long condemned the law for punishing rape victims while providing legal safeguards for their attackers. The legislation, known as the Protection of Women Bill, comes amid efforts by Islamabad to soften the country's hard-line Islamic image and appease moderates and human rights groups who opposed the law. The amended law would drop the death penalty for people found to have had sex outside of marriage, though they still would be subject to a five-year prison term or $165 fine. Judges also will be able to choose whether to try a rape case in a criminal court or in an Islamic court, which should make it easier convict rapists. In Islamic court, a rape case requires testimony from four witnesses, making a trial of an alleged rapist almost impossible. The bill now goes before President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is expected to sign it into law.
[Last modified November 24, 2006, 01:09:00]
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