Karachi: The Sindh Government will introduce a special mechanism to speedily register a proper criminal case by the police on a complaint of any woman in the province that she has been subjected to domestic violence.
Sindh Women Development Minister Syeda Shehla Raza stated this as she addressed a programme to celebrate the upcoming occasion of the International Day of Human Rights. The programme was organised by a European Union-funded initiative to promote human rights in Pakistan.
The provincial minister said on the occasion that all the relevant departments of the Sindh government had been completely using the resources at their disposal to provide utmost assistance to women facing violence or denial of their rights.
She said that the criminal justice system of the country had to be reformed to ensure speedy justice to such victims of gender-based violence.
He said the Sindh government had adopted a number of laws to safeguard women rights under which not just bodily torture was banned but victimisation of females through psychological, economic, and social means was also unlawful.
She said the provincial Women Development Department had been working with the police high-ups to ensure that relevant sections of the laws were invoked by the police officials while lodging of the criminal cases to hand down stern punishment to people who commit violence against women.
Women protection
In this regard, the station house officers and investigation officials of the Sindh police are being properly informed about the laws related to women protection.
The provincial minister said the Women Development Department had been operating a ‘1094’ helpline service to provide free legal counselling and other assistance to women whose rights were denied.
She said the Sindh government had also increased its budgetary allocation to provide legal assistance to the affected women.
She said that the Women Development Department would also soon assume the control of the shelter homes in the province to provide housing and other basic facilities to the affected women in an institutionalised manner.
