Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday he would like convicted rapists to be publicly executed or chemically castrated. He made the statement while reacting to a question on the rape of a woman on a highway last week.
Last week, a mother of two driving along a major highway near Lahore was dragged out of her car and raped by two men at gunpoint. One of whom was arrested on Monday.
PM said he believed the culprits should be hanged publicly. However, added officials had informed him that such an act could endanger a preferential trade status given to Pakistan by the European Union (EU).
The EU’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP-plus) status, granted to Pakistan in 2014, is contingent upon observation of international conventions, such as human rights.
However, PM said he was also looking into the option of chemical castration instead.
“The way there is first degree, second degree, third-degree murder, this [rape] should be graded in the same way, and when there is first degree [rape], castrate them. Operate on them and make them unable to do this,” PM Imran said in an interview on a news channel.
Motorway gang-rape case
His remarks came as officials announced that one of the two main suspects in the rape case had been arrested. He had admitted to the crime. Officials said they also had a positive DNA match. The search for the second suspect is still ongoing.
Police retrieved DNA samples from the site. They used GPS data from cellular phone networks to identify individuals who were at the site when the attack occurred.
The shocking assault sparked nationwide protests. The case calls for the resignation of officials as well as the public hanging of rapists in Pakistan.
Pakistanis cannot thank PM Imran enough
Many people on social media are lauding PM’s statement about punishing the rapist. They are hoping the PTI government will take major steps in this regard.
Prime Minister Imran said the motorway rape had “shaken the entire nation”. He said he was “shocked” to find out from the police that sex crimes in the country were rising greatly.
Meanwhile, CCPO Lahore has issued an apology for blaming the victim of the motorway rape case. Earlier, the victim also shared haunting details of the incident.
This February, lawmakers introduced legislation for the public hanging of those convicted of sexual abuse and the murder of children, but the law was not passed.
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