ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior unanimously approved the bill to establish child courts for child abuse cases.
As per the private tv channel report, The meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior was chaired by Chairman Khurram Nawaz. The meeting unanimously approved the bill to establish child courts for child abuse cases.
The bill was presented by PML-N Member of the Assembly Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar. Under the bill, child courts will be established for child victims of rape.
Nosheen Iftikhar said that the statements of child victims of rape will be recorded in a good environment and in the presence of a psychologist. Under the bill, it is mandatory to decide rape cases within six months.
PTI member Zartaj Gul said that the punishments for perpetrators of rape are inadequate.
The meeting also discussed the bill on punishment for non-implementation of court decisions granting women the right to inheritance.
MQM MLA Sofia Saeed said that if the right to inheritance is granted by a court decision under the bill, there will be a six-month sentence if it is not implemented within 120 days.
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The government objected to the bill and said that it is not possible to include this punishment in civil laws. Civil laws can be strengthened if women are not given the right to inheritance despite receiving it through court decisions.
The committee directed Sofia Saeed and the Law Ministry to sit down together and resolve the objections to the bill.
It should be noted that 5,398 cases of sexual violence against children have been reported in Pakistan during the last five years. These figures show that approximately three children are raped in the country every day.
According to a report by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO), there has been a total increase of 220 percent in the number of registered cases of sexual violence against children over five years. The number of cases reported from Punjab is 3,323, which is 62 percent of the total cases.
Similarly, 1,360 cases of sexual violence against children were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is 25.1 percent. A total of 458 cases were reported in Sindh, which is 8.5 percent, and 257 cases were reported from Balochistan, which is 5 percent of the total cases.
