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Marvi submits private bill on crimes against women

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid legislator Marvi Memon submitted in the National Assembly on Sunday a private bill proposing severe punishment for crimes against women.

The proposed legislation, named the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2008, proposes amendments in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure, suggesting life imprisonment as the maximum punishment for causing a woman’s death because of issues related to dowry, and 10 years in prison for acid throwing, depriving a woman of inheritance and concealing marriage. Memon told Daily Times that noted jurist Senator Anwar Bhinder had helped her draft the bill and that she hoped the government would allow her to move the bill on a private members day and help her muster support of ‘all the parties to pass it unanimously’. She said stern punishments could deter crimes against women.

Dowry issues: The legislator said she had proposed adding a sub-section 306-A to Section 306 of the PPC to include deaths related to dowry issues.

“If the death of a women is caused by any burn or physical injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances and it is revealed that soon before death she was subjected to cruelty by her husband or any relative of her husband in connection with any demand for dowry, such death shall be called dowry death and such husband or relative shall be deemed to have caused dowry death,” the proposed new section states. “Whoever will commit criminal dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to life imprisonment but shall not be less than seven years.”

Acid throwing: A proposed sub-section 324-A in the PPC states that “whoever will cause any injury by throwing any kind of acid on face or any part of the body of some person with intent to take some revenge or otherwise disfigures some one to put him or her in the mental or physical agony shall be punished with imprisonment which could extend to ten years but shall not be less than five years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to Rs 500,000.”

Inheritance: Another proposed sub-section in the PPC, 424-A, states that anyone who ‘frequently’ conceals information to deprive a woman from her inheritance rights “or frequently poses himself as the legal heir instead of actual legal heir or alienates the property of a female owner or heir through a registered deed, a mutation or any conveyances or a decree knowingly that it is not by the lawful heir or the owner, shall be punished with an imprisonment of either description which may extend to ten years and shall be liable to fine which may extend to Rs 500,000.”
Source: Daily Times
Date:12/14/2008