LAHORE – The Lahore High Court has ruled that two-finger and hymen tests of rape survivors are illegal and unconstitutional.
During the hearing on Monday, LHC judge Justice Ayesha Malik said that such testing methods are unscientific.
In the 30-page verdict, the judge mentioned that the testing methods were having no medical basis, therefore it has no forensic value in cases of sexual abuse.
The practice goes against the right to life and right to dignity enshrined in Article 9 and 14 of the Constitution, and that it offends the personal dignity of the female victim, the verdict read.
Court also underscored the discriminatory factor against the female victim as they were carried out on the basis of their gender that opposes Article 25.
Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari embraced the judgment. She tweeted: “welcome decision but earlier the anti-rape ordinance already banned this test and it is applicable across the country.”
welcome decision but earlier the anti-rape ordinance already banned this test and it is applicable across the country. https://t.co/0ytxERjalY
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) January 4, 2021
The judgment added that consequently to the extent that the 2020 guidelines, SOPs, and the 2015 instructions that mandate the two-finger test or the hymen test for the purposes of ascertaining the virginity of the victim have been declared illegal and against the Constitution”.
The court directed the authorities in Punjab to take the necessary steps to ensure that the practice of such virginity tests was banned from the medico-legal examination of the rape victims.
