Hundreds of women have been jailed under the laws which made a rape victim liable to prosecution for adultery if she failed to produce four male witnesses. Known as the Hudood Ordinance, the laws were introduced in 1979 by the then military ruler, General Zia ul-Haq as part of his programme to Islamise the country. They made it almost impossible to prosecute rapists.

Pakistani and international rights groups had long demanded repeal of the laws which criminalised all extra-marital sex. A woman who fails to prove that she was raped could then be charged with adultery under the same legislation.

President Musharraf’s government had proposed to put before the National Assembly yesterday a Bill to replace the controversial laws with a new Protection of Women Bill which placed the crime of rape within the country’s secular penal code. The move was supported by the liberal opposition Pakistan People’s Party and women’s rights groups, but has now been delayed.

The ruling party backtracked on its promise after the radical Islamic alliance, known as Muttehida Majlis Amal (MMA), threatened to quit Parliament in protest. In a statement on Tuesday Wasi Zafar, the Federal Law Minister, said that rape would remain a crime punished by Islamic laws.

Supporters of the compromise say that when the law is passed rape victims will be able to choose between prosecuting suspects under the four-witness rule or under Pakistan’s civil penal code. “If a woman has four witnesses she can file a case under the Hudood law, or if she does not have witnesses she can file a case under the penal code,” said Mr Zafar.

Under another change made after pressure from the Islamic parties, a man and a woman would be charged with lewdness if they indulge in wilful sex, an offence punishable with five years imprisonment.

The Muttehida Qaumi Movement, a secular party, had threatened to quit the ruling coalition if the Government presented the amended Bill. “We cannot support an anti-women Bill,” said Farooq Sattar, one of its leaders.

The compromise has provoked strong reaction from liberal political parties, human rights groups and lawyers who said that the changes would water down the Bill and create confusion. Asma Jahangir, chairwoman of Human Rights Groups of Pakistan, said the changes in the proposed Bill had exposed President Musharraf’s claim of “enlightened moderation”.

“The so-called Women’s Protection Bill is a farcical attempt at making the Hudood Ordinance palatable,” said Mrs Jahangir.

Thousands of rapes go unreported as victims fear that they would be treated as criminals.

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