Day: July 24, 2011

By Malik Asad

ISLAMABAD: The government has withdrawn grant of bail for women through a simple surety bond in non-bailable offences by amending the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

As the amended CrPC has been circulated to the lower judiciary, judges have been asked to follow the new criteria for granting bail to women.

Amending section 497, the CrPC (second amendment) Ordinance 2007 had inserted three provisos about grant of bail to women. The provisos had made it mandatory to grant bail to women in any offence except some serious offences and judicial officer were bound to release the accused women on a simple surety bail bond.

The inserted proviso said: “the accused women of such an offence shall be released on bail, as if the offence is bailable, notwithstanding anything contained in Schedule II to this code or any other law for the time being in force.”

Another proviso said: “A woman may not be released if there appears reasonable grounds for believing that she has been guilty of an offence relating to terrorism, financial corruption and murder and such offence is punishable with death or imprisonment for life or imprisonment of 10 years, unless having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, the court directs that she may be released on bail.”

But the parliament in April this year approved a government bill about amendments in section 497 of CrPC, omitting the provisos.

Now the amended CrPC has put unfortunate women again at the mercy of the system.

Barrister Masroor Shah said now women may be detained on minor offences and even in family disputes the grant of bail will not be their due right.

“Earlier they could manage their release on a surety bond but now it will be very difficult to avoid imprisonment.” He said now grant of bail is the sole discretion of the court. “Women have to follow lengthy legal process for bail.”

Dr Farzana Bari, a rights activist, said the new criteria would result in increasing number of female prisoners. According to her, now the police can easily arrest any woman by labeling her a prostitute and put her behind bars until she proves her innocence.

Nayyer Shabbana Kiyani, a representative of Aurat Foundation, said the withdrawal would add to women’s miseries.

But Secretary Law and Justice Masood Chishti said the government has introduced a number of measures for women in the amended CrPC.

“We have fixed duration in detention in jail in pending decisions of different periods.” He said for the protection of women’s rights, the word “any women” had also been inserted in the proviso of section 497 CrPC under which the court may release any person accused of bailable offence.

Ghulam Farooq Awan, adviser to the Prime Minister on Law and Justice, said under the new amendment accused of those offences not punishable with death where the court may sentence up to seven years imprisonment would be released on bail after one-year detention.

For women, he said, the period has been further reduced and they may be released after six months, subject to the court’ direction.

When asked specifically about omitting provisos related to grant of bail to women, Mr Awan replied to “streamline and incorporate new amendments in CrPC” there was a need to omit some provisos from the code.

Source: Dawn

Date:7/24/2011

NAWABSHAH: A man axed his sister and cousin to death in Asgharabad village on Saturday over suspicions they had established illicit relations.

Mohammad Machhi attacked his sister Pathani and cousin Sain Bux with the axe when they were at his home in the village. They died on the spot.

The accused was later arrested by police but no FIR was lodged till the filing of this report.

Source: Dawn

Date:7/24/2011

By Ayesha Siddiqa

ayesha.siddiqa@tribune.com.pk

The other day, I happened to be part of a television debate regarding the appointment of one of the highest offices of the country. The anchor, however, squirmed at the idea of debating the issue of sexual harassment of a female colleague by a senior bureaucrat mainly because he felt uncomfortable with the subject. I shouldn’t have been surprised because the gent represented a certain kind of thinking in which, as the French writer Simone De Beauvoir explained, women are visualised on the basis of a stereotypical image.

Let’s confess that some of the stereotypes of women in our society pertain to her being this delicate species who must remain at home and artificially protect her honour by keeping silent any atrocity or violation of her honour. Women, we are told, are meant to be respected and have been given a high status by our religion. Sadly, the high status is usually confined to being mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, etc. A woman is an agent of a man’s honour and so must not speak out loud if she feels threatened because it brings disrespect to the man.

The other image is regarding working women. Let’s admit that a large number of men in our society, including those who otherwise pretend to be very liberal, do not necessarily think highly of women at work. The little ‘Taliban’ that hides in a lot of men and the ‘Zubeidas’ that are in quite a few women comes oozing out when judging women who are eager to compete with men. They might be working simply because there is no one else to provide for their living or just because it is their right to perform as well as men instead of confining themselves to the inner sanctum of a household. For all our claims about how our religion honours women, Muslim societies generally do a bad job of it. In both the above cases there is always a large segment of society that has no sympathy for women. A lot of men and women are critical of Mukhtaran Mai only because she got financial support from abroad – as if the money was a replacement for lost honour.

Equally depressing is the state of women at work, who are never treated as having the same rights as men. As starters, there is no emphasis at working places, especially in the public sector, to cater to the needs of women. Toilet facilities for women are almost negligent, causing a high ascendency of kidney and other related problems in for women at work. Then there is the grave issue of sexual harassment at the work place for which a law has been made in 2009/2010. However, the problem with every law in any part of the world is about its implementation. Do the lawmakers and the government machinery have the strength to implement the law? What happens with implementation when those in the highest positions of power support those that abuse the law?

Recently, there have been cases in which sexual harassers are being protected by senior office-bearers of the state. There is the case of the Punjab University professor, whom the prime minister wants re-employed despite his involvement in sexual harassment. Despite the fact that the matter was reported and witnesses submitted their written testimonies, the highest office of authority of the government, pardoned the abuser in 2008. Interestingly, the gent accused of sexual harassment is being considered for a top constitutional position of the state. Surely, there will be a long list of other similar cases.

A law doesn’t acquire any significance unless it is backed with the will of the lawmakers to implement it. The will to implement, on the other hand, becomes stronger with a change in perception regarding the issue in question. Here, it is a matter of changing the way we think about women.

As for the anchor, I wish he could get rid of his stereotypes. Women are human beings with bodies and brains. They are not just agents of a man’s honour. They are not a ‘second sex’. Their issues need to be discussed with the intent of bringing justice to them and the society at large.

Source: The Express Tribune

Date:7/24/2011