EDITORIAL: The Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC’s) verdict delivered on Tuesday can go a long way to protect women from baseless accusations of immoral sexual behaviour.
“A presumption of chastity is applicable to every Muslim woman under the concept of Al Ihsan,” declared the religious court after hearing a petition filed by Saira Rauf against the decision of an additional district and sessions judge in a case filed by her former husband from whom she had obtained khula (a woman’s right to divorce her husband in Islam) in 2017.
Dissolution of the marriage led to litigation over the custody of their two sons, aged 12 and 16 years. In an affidavit filed before the district and sessions court, her former husband had accused her of unvirtuous character, though he later withdrew that statement.
Most divorces end in bitterness, and where children are involved legal battles usually ensue for their custody. In such situations like in the said case, it is quite common for men to cast aspersions on the character of a woman and claim that she would be a bad influence on the children.
Of course, not all women are perfect. But many men tend to think they can philander, and get away with it, too. The society also judges them by different standards.
What can bring a life of shame for one even on unsubstantiated allegations is generally acceptable for the other as something that happens.
While setting aside the session court’s decision, the FSC remanded the case to a trial court, asking it to record the statements of the complainant along with evidence of two witnesses to determine whether or not the crime of Qazf – imputation of adultery intended to harm reputation or hurt feelings of a person – was committed, which carries serious punishment under the Hudood Ordinance.
However, as noted earlier, the man had retracted his statement and tendered an apology, saying he had uttered indecent words under stress. He might have changed his stance for being unable to back his allegation with evidence rather than out of goodness.
Many women in such situations suffer in silence due to lack of resources to seek remedy through the legal process. Some non-governmental organisations do offer free of cost legal aid to those in need, but for different reasons are not accessible to everyone looking for help.
Bogus accusations of immorality against women arise from age-old cultural prejudices parading as sacrosanct traditions in this patriarchal society.
Women are also made to feel they are lesser beings while men are entitled to do anything they fancy. It is imperative therefore to foster gender sensitisation in the education system as well as training of judicial officers in conformity with the principles of justice.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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