Pakistan Penal Code 1860: National Assembly defers bill seeking amendments

The National Assembly on Wednesday deferred for next Tuesday a bill seeking amendments to Pakistan Penal Code 1860 (PPC) after parliamentarians particularly female members from both treasury and opposition requested for bringing some amendments.
The bill suggests insertion of a new section 335A, Act XLV of 1860 which says, "Whoever with the intention to disfigure or deface another person by throwing acid or by means of fire, or using arsenic weapon, is said to cause disfigurement or defacing." The bill provides for imposing life imprisonment or penalty of Rs 0.5 million on person whether man or woman if found guilty of attacking someone with acid or a weapon.
Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi gave the ruling of postponement of the bill moved by former Justice Fakhar-un-Nisa Khokher. Dr Attiya Inyatullah while lauding the bill had requested for the deferment so that she could give some suggestions. Bushra Gohar endorsed the proposal and requested that the bill can be further improved through amendments.
However, Justice Fakhar-un-Nisa Khokher opposed the postponement. Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor said the bill should not be delayed as victims of such attacks had become disabled forever. He urged the house for maximum punishment of such crimes. Yasmin Rehman, Kashmala Tariq, Dr Khushbakht Shujaat and other women parliamentarians appreciated the bill and called for making it more effective and strict punishment for the culprit involved in such heinous crimes.
Kashmala Tariq, however, urged for a strict check of the government in such cases saying some NGOs were getting huge funds through exploitation of acid burn victims. In addition, she said that the government should provide free medical treatment to victims of acid burnt. Meanwhile, Dr Darshan staged a walk out from the House to protest increasing incidents of kidnapping of minorities for ransom in Sindh and other parts of the country. He was accompanied by several members of PML-N and PML-Q as well.