Pakistan to set up sex offenders' database, says PM Imran

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the government would set up a database to register and track the sex offenders, and introduce legislation within few days for stringent punishment to the rapists and child abusers.

Addressing the Wednesday's Joint Session of the Parliament after passage of requisite bills to remove Pakistan from the grey list of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the PM said since the heart wrenching motorway rape incident, the government was seriously thinking to bring about a legislation for strict punishment for sex offenders to address the agonies of the rape victims and their families.

The sex offenders, he said, destroyed the lives of victims and also making their families suffer the trauma.

"I was specially thinking what would have happened to the children (of Motorway rape victim). We all know how much trauma they go through," the prime minister told the ruling and coalition members as the opposition benches already walked out led by Shehbaz Sharif.

Explaining the three-tier strategy adopted by the government to curb the rape incidents, the prime minister said as had been experienced worldwide, the sex offenders usually committed the crime repeatedly. Even Abid, the main accused of Motorway incident, was already involved in rape and several other unreported offences but was never given exemplary punishment.

Due to certain reasons, only a small number of rape and child abuse cases were reported, he told the House.

Imran Khan said the government was drafting a bill to make a deterrent and curb the recurrence of such offences that would be introduced within few days.

Moreover, he said, even if the yet-at-large main accused was arrested, his conviction would be a difficult task but the government was striving hard to achieve it by ensuring the witness protection.