Pakistan parliament passes law to use chemically castrated on rapists

Rapists guilty of repeat offenses in Pakistan will be subjected to chemical castration as a result of a new rule enacted in the wake of a series of attacks on women and children across the country.

The new legislation also establishes special courts that will speed sexual assault cases, enabling faster convictions.

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The bill contains a number of measures, such as the creation of a national sex offenders registry and the protection of victims’ identities.

The bill also stipulates that the government create special fast track courts around the country to hear rape cases and deliver a judgment within four months.

Victims of rape will be able to record their assault and receive a medical examination within hours of the crime in anti-rape crisis cells set up in public hospitals.

Those found guilty of gang rape will face the death penalty or life in jail, with repeat offenders facing chemical castration.

The move comes after a huge outcry over the increase in rapes against women and children in Pakistan, as well as police ineffectiveness in investigating such cases.

President Arif Alvi signed the bill in December of last year after Prime Minister Imran Kahn and his cabinet approved it. However, the measure was permanently approved into law by the National Assembly on Wednesday, November 17.

Chemical castration, which involves taking medicine to lower testosterone levels, has been used in Indonesia for paedophiles since 2016 and in Poland for child rapists since 2006.