The cabinet committee formed to review draft amendments to the Hudood Ordinances has decided to delete a proposed change that would make sex with a girl below the age of 16 the offence of rape. | “The ministers argued that in Islam, a woman becomes an adult when she reaches puberty.” |
The sources said Sher Afgan Niazi, the parliamentary affairs minister, Aftab Sherpao, the interior minister, and Dr GG Jamal, the culture minister, had argued at the cabinet meeting that this amendment would cause trouble in rural and tribal areas where girls are traditionally married off at a young age. The ministers argued that in Islam, a woman becomes an adult when she reaches puberty.