Sindh Assembly passes bill to set up forensic agency in province

Sindh’s legislature unanimously passed a bill on Thursday to set up a provincial agency for forensic investigation of accidents and criminal incidents involving human casualties.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Khuhro presented in the Sindh Assembly the report of the House’s relevant standing committee, which reviewed the bill to establish the agency. The proposed agency will be headed by a director general, who will supervise a team of experts and other staff members from the field of forensic science. A search committee, chaired by the chief secretary, will be formed to appoint the DG.

The agency will set up forensic science laboratories across the province. The Sindh Forensic Science Agency Bill 2017 and the agency will provide administrative and legal framework for the labs.

According to the draft of the piece of legislation, the bill is aimed at establishing an agency for forensic examination of documents, materials, equipment, impressions and other objects.

The bill’s statement of objects and reasons states: “To create a facility (agency) for forensic examination of materials and rendering expert opinion. The objective is to provide administrative and legal framework for forensic labs and their findings’ reports for admissibility in the court of law.”

Multan rape survivor

The legislature also unanimously passed a resolution demanding stern punishment for the perpetrators behind the recent incident of a girl’s rape near Multan on the orders of a village panchayat.

The motion, which was moved by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party’s Khairunisa Mughal, contained signatures of the relevant lawmakers, including those affiliated with other political parties.

It stated: “The House strongly condemns the inhuman act of rape of a 16-year-old girl in Rajapur, Multan, Punjab. More pathetic was the aspect that a jirga decided such an ugly act against the girl to punish her. We demand that the culprits be punished strictly.”

Khairunisa said the decision of a jirga ordering the girl’s rape was extremely tragic and a shameful incident. She asked where the Punjab police were when such a heinous incident took place.

She said injustices against women in Punjab were on the rise. She also asked why jirga and panchayat sessions were convened to hand down punishments to only women. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s Syed Sardar Ahmad said the incident had brought great shame to the entire country. He said that such incidents occurred mostly in Punjab, adding that the culprits should be publicly hanged until death.

The party’s Abdul Rauf Siddiqui said the Multan episode was just one of the few cases of injustice that had gone on record, adding that many such incidents, including those of forced marriages, occurred quite frequently.

He said the court should punish the police officials under whose jurisdiction such incidents took place in a bid to prevent similar hateful crimes from being committed in future. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Dr Seema Zia said stern legislation needed to be adopted to prevent recurrence of such incidents, adding that the relevant laws should be implemented in letter and spirit.

Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza said the government should issue certificates against men residing in the locality where the rape was committed to certify that the male population of the area was cruel and had no moral character whatsoever. She asked the government to protect the local women.

Meanwhile, the House also passed a resolution to congratulate Asif Zardari, who turned 62 a day earlier. The motion, which was moved by Khuhro, stated that the services of the former president would always be remembered.