Rape is not merely an individual crime but a reflection of systemic failures in law, culture, governance, and social attitudes. According to the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, the definition of rape is given under section 375 that if a person performs physical intercourse with another person without their consent, or their consent under force or threat, and after an amendment in 2006, marital rape is also included in the definition of rape. While Section 376 deals with the punishments for rape; Whoever commits rape shall be punished with death or imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than ten years or more than twenty-five years, or for imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life and shall also be liable to a fine. And whoever commits rape of a minor or a person with mental or physical disability shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and a fine. Whoever, being a public servant, including a police officer, medical officer, or jailor, takes advantage of his official position, commits rape, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and fine.
The vacuum between theory and reality
Clearly defined laws and a proper explanation of the punishments, yet there is a vacuum between the theory and practical reality. The sustainable social development organization’s 2024 report on gender based violence, drawn from provisional police data obtained through the right to access to information, records 5,339 rape cases registered nationally in 2023. While the majority of the cases go down unregistered. An 18-year-old house help girl in Model Town, Lahore she allegedly raped and assaulted while aborting her pregnancy by the driver and son of the house lady. A young girl of the 11th standard was gang raped in Jhang while she went to her college to issue her roll no slip with her family friend’s son. She disappeared, and after some days, she was captured on a hospital CCTV with three boys, who raped her and left her in a hospital in a miserable situation. A young girl was raped by 3 men in a village of Peshawar some months ago, and in a Jirga, she was forced to marry one of her accusers. How could she live with a man who raped her with two other men? A husband is supposed to be the protector of the girl, not the one who actually raped her. This is the justice served at a local Jirga. Motorway gang rape of a woman in front of her children in 2020, and the final verdict was passed in 2026, after six years of struggle for justice, even after the presence of all the evidence. Lahore High Court in its final verdict approved the death penalty to the accused by stating the fact that evidences were sufficient, yet it took 6 years to decide. We can clearly see that our judicial system cannot make a decision when every box is ticked. What will happen when some of the evidence is not provided due to structural corruption and delay? What will happen mukhtar mai case is the best example of it.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Mukhtara mai got raped by 4 men in 2002, after the tribal council decided it was a punishment for Mukhtara Mai’s family. There was an allegation of an affair between Mukhtara Mai’s 12-year-old brother and the reputed tribe Mastaoi’s older woman, and as a punishment, she was gang raped in a hut in the presence of the tribal council and villagers for an hour. After the rape the one of the accused threw her naked out of the hut. Her father covered her with his shawl, and she got home in this condition. Her complaints were not filed at the nearest police station; after a lot of references, it was finally filed after weeks of incidents. Unlike other women in rural societies, who commit suicide after such an incident due to embarrassment, Mukhtara Mai refused to do so and fought for her struggle. After 17 years of struggle, Lahore High Court convicted only one of the accused while let free other 5. Her struggle exposed the judicial system, tribal councils, and local police’s attitude towards rape victims.
Structural and institutional irresponsiveness
According to section 21(j) of anti-rape (Investigation and Trial), a late report of the rape can go against the victim as if she/he was conspiring against the accused. As a Pakistani, I am very well aware of the social stigma thing; a rape survivor went through physical, emotional, and psychological trauma and pain. Without proper counseling, they mostly could not muster up the courage to fight for their rights. Rape is not a normal thing; after it, the victim would go to the station to file a FIR. Even if someone musters up courage, our facilitation centers, police stations, have already made up their mind that a female rape victim is just lying and she had consent during the rape. Before going to court, there are trials at every step for the victim to justify their innocence so that she/he could pass to the next step of the procedure. There are no medico-legal doctors at the very regional or local level for forensic, chemical testing, virginity testing, and then carefully preserving the samples and results. The medical examination can only be done if the victim has the FIR proof. In court trials, it is made mandatory at every step to make the victim feel discriminated against, uncomfortable with their questions, and accused of immorality. Courts at first try their best to settle the issue out of court. Most of the rape trials are open court, mean anyone can attend the hearing, questions are asked in front of the accused and a random audience. The victim has to answer every type of question before everyone. These cases can last from one year to 10 years.
Rape case numbers go on increasing instead of decreasing, and we know the reason. Structural incapacities, corruption, a lack of funding for various facilitation centers, and a lack of social awareness about the topic. In the modern era, we are still treating many topics as social stigma; we have to let them live, and should support the victims, ask for justice, so that the accused can be punished. Strengthen implementation of existing laws, increase conviction rates through better investigations, improve forensic infrastructure, expand survivor counseling and rehabilitation, protect victim identity, Train police, prosecutors, and judges, introduce comprehensive consent and gender education, and encourage responsible media reporting. I know, I can give hundreds of solutions and suggestions, but on real grounds, no solution will be applicable because the roots have a tumor; we have to cure the baseline foundation, not the cutting of branches would do any good to us. The change requires courage; it can take our life, our job, it will be difficult at the start, but with the passage of time, we can alter the system by removing malignant cells in our system.
Kiran Gul
Kiran Gul is an independent writer and researcher with an interest in international relations, geopolitics, human rights, and Pakistan's political affairs. Her work explores contemporary regional and global issues through research-based analysis, aiming to make complex topics accessible to a wider audience.
