Pakistan’s criminal justice system continues to fail victims of rape and other sexual crimes in the delivery of justice, as data shows that the conviction rate in these crimes was abysmally low in Punjab in 2022, under 4%.
According to a report, the conviction rate in cases of sexual abuse, including rape, remained at 3.6 percent in Punjab in 2022, while 65 percent of the accused who faced trial for sexual crimes got acquitted by the trial courts.
Data gathered from trial courts suggests that out of 7,988 cases, only 160 people were punished by the courts for committing sexual offences. Trial courts allowed 605 (7.5%) applicants to withdraw their complaints, the report said.
Meanwhile, over 7,000 cases of sexual violence are pending in the trial courts of Punjab.
A total of 4,749 cases of rape under Section 376 of PPC were sent for trial by the Punjab Public Prosecution department, out of which only 160 accused (3.36%) were found guilty and got convicted of rape charges.
The courts acquitted 3,101 (65%) accused of rape charges, while challans of 395 cases were canceled without trial, due to various reasons. Courts also allowed 395 (8.3%) applicants to withdraw their complaints without trial.
In 2022, a total of 227 cases of gang rape were presented for trial in the sessions courts of Punjab. Out of 227 cases, only 26 people (11.45%) were convicted by trial courts while 151 people were acquitted, according to data.
In cases of attempted rape, trial courts in Punjab handed over sentences to 39 individuals out of a total of 1157 cases. The conviction percentage in gang rape cases stood at 3.37%. Over 800 people got a ‘not-guilty’ verdict from the courts.
The courts decided a total of 1,855 cases filed under sections 377 & 377 B (unnatural offences). The trial courts awarded sentences to 294 (3.6%) accused under these charges. The courts acquitted 1,198 people from the charges of committing unnatural offences.
CONCERNS OVER LOW CONVICTIONS
Lawyers and prosecutors have expressed disappointment over the low conviction rates in cases of sexual abuse. They say that the numbers show the poor performance of the police in investigating sexual crimes, especially rape.
The report quoted Nida Aly, executive director of the AGHS Legal Aid Cell, as saying that the most worrying number is the rate of withdrawal of cases.
“This points towards one possibility – that there is a trust deficit in our legal system,” she told the media outfit. “Why do people withdraw cases? Do police force them to reconcile, because the offence of rape is a non-compoundable offence.”
She added that the police play a huge role in the withdrawal of rape cases.
“Police convince a rape survivor to withdraw the case by telling him or her that the evidence is not enough to secure a conviction. This is indeed a troubling thing,” according to Aly.
She also blamed prolonged rape trials as another reason for the withdrawal of cases. According to NGO, War Against Rape (WAR) a rape trial usually takes three to four years to complete, and the entire process is very hostile towards the survivors.
“There are many contributing factors that result in this low conviction rate in cases of sexual crimes. Besides trust deficit and poor investigation, people do not have resources to bear the expenses of a prolonged rape trial,” Aly explained.
In its landmark judgment of 2021, the Supreme Court held that if a survivor’s statement was “confidence inspiring”, then it was alone enough to convict the accused.
“Rape is a crime that is usually committed in private, and there is hardly any witness to provide direct evidence of having seen the commission of crime by the accused person. The courts, therefore, do not insist upon producing direct evidence to corroborate the testimony of the victim if the same is found to be confidence-inspiring in the overall particular facts and circumstances of a case, and considers such a testimony of the victim sufficient for conviction of the accused person. A rape victim stands on a higher pedestal than an injured witness, for an injured witness gets the injury on the physical form while the rape victim suffers psychologically and emotionally,” the judgment reads.
In 2021, the parliament passed the Anti-rape Act to ensure the expeditious redressal of rape and sexual abuse crimes in respect of women and children through special investigation teams and special courts providing for efficacious procedures, and speedy trial.
The Act envisages special procedures including the establishment of Anti-rape Crisis Cells to provide a one-stop solution to the survivor, including medico-legal examination and the registration of an FIR. But to date, these crisis cells have yet to be established. Rape survivors are forced to run back and forth only to have their FIR registered.
The Act also directs the establishment of a special committee at the federal level to oversee the implementation of the law. The committee has been notified and comprised of public officials and rights activists.
According to human rights lawyer Sharafat Ali, the anti-rape crisis cells, which are a unique feature of this Act, were still not functional in every district as per the requirement of the law.
The federal government maintains that the Anti-rape Crisis Cells have been established in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
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