Women Senators on Wednesday staged a walkout from Senate against a suggestion floated by one of their male colleague from a religious party that there should be a law to make it mandatory for a woman to get married if she reaches the age of 30.
The women senators on the opposition benches from different political parties left the house in protest against Senator Hafiz Hamdullah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF), who floated a suggestion on the floor of house that there should be a law to make it mandatory for every woman to enter into wedlock as she reaches the age of 30 or beyond.
He floated the suggestion during a question-hour while speaking on a supplementary question over the steps being taken by the government to control the increasing incidents of rape, particularly of minors, in the country.
Hamdullah also came up with a strange suggestion, arguing that rape cases could largely be averted if girls are married at an early age, adding that Council of Islamic Ideology in its recommendations has suggested that a girl under 18 years of age can also get married. However, the women senators who described the suggestions as an utter disregard to the womenfolk staged a walkout from the house which was followed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) members who also walked out against the failure of the government to stop the incidents of rape particularly of minors.
"Whether we are not able to save our children [from being rapped]...? How many culprits did the government punish so far?" Colonel Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (Retd) of MQM asked before leaving the house in protest. He said that MQM was concerned at the rising incidents of the rape and demanded of the government to take measures to stop such crimes.
Kalsoom Parveen of Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A) said that strict laws should be framed to make sure that the culprits of the rape get exemplary punishments. The presiding officer, Sabir Ali Baloch, however, expunged the portion of derogatory words by Hafiz Hamdullah regarding the womenfolk on the request of leader of the house Raja Zafarul Haq.
Earlier, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the house in a written reply that a total of 14,583 rape cases were registered in the country during the last five years while 1,041 accused involved in rape cases have been convicted during the same period. He also told the house that the federal as well the provincial governments were taking various measures to control the incidents of rape, particularly of minors, in the country.