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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's president Tuesday signed a new anti-rape measure into law that would allow speedy convictions and toughen sentences for rapists.
The presidential decree or ordinance requires the government to establish fast-track courts across the country to hear cases of sexual assaults against women and children.
The tribunals will have to conclude the trials of suspects and deliver a verdict within four months, President Arif Alvi's office said.
Local media reported the ordinance calls for strict sentences, including the chemical castration of those found guilty of committing the offence repeatedly. It also outlaws disclosing the identity of victims.
The decree will create special "anti-rape crisis cells" across Pakistan for the protection of both victims and witnesses. The crisis cells will be responsible for conducting investigations and medical examinations of victims within six hours of the crime, the statement said.
A nationwide register of sex offenders will also be maintained with the help of the National Database and Registration Authority.
A presidential ordinance remains in force in Pakistan for 120 days and the government is required to seek a mandatory parliamentary approval for it to become a permanent law.
Until now, a convicted rapist would face a sentence of up to 25 years in prison or the death penalty, while a gang-rape is punishable by death or life imprisonment.
Legal experts say, however, such cases in Pakistan take years to prosecute and rapists often escape punishment because political influence leads to faulty police investigations. Moreover, rampant corruption in the lower judiciary can also help rapists in seeking favorable verdicts.
The circumstances, critics say, discourages women from seeking justice for fear of being shamed or persecuted by police or even their own relatives in the largely conservative Pakistani society.
Prime Minister Imran Khan's Cabinet approved the new law late last month to stem growing incidents of rape against women and children in recent years.
The latest such crime occurred in September when two men gang-raped a woman in front of her terrified children after her car ran out of fuel on a deserted highway near the eastern city of Lahore. A police manhunt led to the arrest of the assailants.
But the ensuing public outcry over the incident prompted Khan to resolve in a television interview that his government would soon enact "stringent and holistic anti-rape ordinance closing all loopholes." The prime minister also called for public execution of rapists and their chemical castration.
Local media, however, has quoted Pakistani Law Minister Farogh Nasim as saying "the concept of chemical castration has been introduced as a form of rehabilitation, and subject to consent of the convict" in line with international laws. He elaborated that if the convict would not agree to castration, he would be dealt with in accordance with the laws and could face death sentence, life imprisonment or a 25-year jail term.