June 13, 2025
By Iqra Manzoor
LAHORE
A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered by Multan Police against a man for allegedly subjecting his wife to repeated sexual violence, including acts of sodomy, which resulted in severe internal injuries and physical trauma. The case was lodged at Qutabpur Police Station on May 18, a day after the incident reportedly occurred.
The FIR was filed on the victim’s complaint and registered under multiple sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) following consultations with legal experts. Initially, the police invoked Section 376 of the PPC, which pertains to the offense of rape. Section 376 criminalizes ‘sexual intercourse without consent’ and carries a punishment of up to 25 years or even the death penalty in aggravated circumstances.
Case overview
According to the FIR, the victim alleged that her husband had been repeatedly committing acts of sodomy against her will. Despite her persistent resistance and pleas for him to stop, he allegedly continued the abuse and physically assaulted her when she refused. The FIR states that the accused bit the victim multiple times, leaving injuries on her upper torso and inflicting severe damage to her lower body.
The survivor also requested a medical examination and called for a thorough investigation, emphasizing the non-consensual and brutal nature of the assaults.
Speaking to Voicepk, police officer Imran Gul Niazi, who handled the case in its initial stages, said, “It is extremely rare to receive such complaints from wives against their husbands. However, we took immediate action after receiving the complaint and arrested the accused the very next day.”
Niazi added that the police worked closely with the Special Sexual Investigation and Operations Unit (SSIOU) and the Victim Support Officer (VSO) to ensure the victim’s safety and the comprehensive pursuit of justice. “With guidance from our legal team, we carefully included all relevant sections in the FIR once the medical examination report was received,” he said.
He further revealed that during police questioning, the accused admitted to all acts of violence mentioned by the survivor — except for sodomy, which could not be confirmed in the medical report. Niazi confirmed that the accused has been behind bars since then.
Based on the medical findings, additional sections were added to the FIR. These included Section 337-F(iii) of the PPC, which relates to injuries involving laceration without rupture of the skin, and Section 337-L(2), which deals with broader physical harm caused through assault. Both of these sections have been added in the FIR later on.
“As a criminologist, I handled this case with complete commitment,” Niazi said. “We ensured that the investigation was carried out with integrity and that the survivor remains protected. Our goal is to make sure no woman has to suffer such cruelty within the bounds of marriage.”
A crisis far larger than one case
According to the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) 2024 report on gender-based violence revealed 32,617 cases of GBV were reported nationwide. These included 5,339 incidents of rape, 24,439 kidnappings/abductions, 2,238 cases of domestic violence, and 547 incidents of honour killings. Despite these alarming figures, conviction rates remain staggeringly low: rape (0.5%), honour killings (0.5%), kidnapping/abduction (0.1%), and domestic violence (1.3%).
Punjab, where this case occurred, reported the highest number of GBV cases with 26,753 registered incidents. This included 225 honour killings with only 2 convictions, 4,641 rape cases with a 0.4% conviction rate, and 20,720 kidnapping/abduction cases with just 16 convictions. In 1,167 cases of domestic violence, only 3 resulted in conviction.
These figures highlight the urgent need for institutional reforms, survivor-centered support systems, and stronger legal enforcement to combat the culture of impunity surrounding violence against women.
Why even “strong laws” fail survivors
High‑court advocate Sara Malkani notes that convictions in domestic‑violence cases hinge on extraordinary factors: a judge willing to ignore patriarchal norms, steadfast support from the survivor’s circle, timely medical evidence and, in some cases, the survivor’s ability to bypass police deterrence by petitioning a magistrate directly. Where police refuse to register an FIR or courts misapply the law, she says, procedural delays and institutional apathy all but guarantee impunity.
Speaking to Voicepk, Malkani stated, “I think we have strong laws against rape. We need to reform law enforcement and court practices for better implementation.”
Nida Aly, executive director of the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell (AGHS), says the problem is not merely statutory:
“The anti‑rape legislation already extends to marital rape, but society still equates marriage with blanket consent. Until communities grasp that intimate‑partner violence is criminal, the best laws will remain paper promises.”
Aly argues that Pakistan’s criminal justice system is deeply influenced by a “preset judicial mindset that rape complaints are fabricated,” a bias starkly reflected in the country’s alarmingly low conviction rates of 5%. To address this systemic failure, she stresses the need for community-level education on consent and intimate partner violence, alongside gender-responsive training for police, prosecutors, and judges. Aly also highlights the importance of establishing accountability mechanisms to prevent law enforcement from pressuring survivors into “compromises” with alleged rapists—a practice that is not only illegal but undermines justice, as rape is a non-compoundable offense.
Additionally, she calls for the creation of dedicated, well-resourced courts capable of implementing gender-based violence and domestic abuse laws without procedural delays, to ensure that survivors are met with justice rather than indifference.
While all four provinces now have domestic‑violence laws, the Islamabad Capital Territory still lacks one. Even in Punjab, which has invested in protective infrastructure, Aly says women in low‑income communities rarely know such services exist, and overburdened family‑court judges seldom have the training to enforce them.
Aly cites a recent marital‑rape conviction in Sangha, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as evidence that courts can—and occasionally do—affirm a wife’s right to bodily autonomy. “Similar outcomes,” she concludes, “would transform the legal landscape for women seeking protection from forced sexual violence.”
For the Multan survivor, it is a positive step that police have completed their investigation and submitted evidence to the court. Now, it remains to be seen whether justice will follow—or if Pakistan’s culture of impunity will prevail once again.