The Indian Penal Code, enacted in the year 1860, was adopted by us after Independence. However, its nomenclature was changed from IPC (Indian Penal Code) to PPC (Pakistan Penal Code).

The offence of rape was in the Code since its enactment and its definition was simple, i.e. sexual intercourse by a man with a woman without her consent or against her will.

The situation remained unchanged until February 1979, when the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979 was promulgated. The offence of rape was omitted from the PPC and, instead, offences of Zina and Zina-bil-jabr were mentioned in the Ordinance ibid, and different sentences were provided for the offences of Zina liable to Hadd, Zina liable to Tazir, and Zina-bil-jabr.

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This legal position continued until the enactment of “The Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act, 2006”. Through the Act, the offence of rape was revived in the PPC; however, its definition remained almost the same as it was before 1979. This Act also created a new offence, i.e. “fornication”, under section 496-B PPC, which deals with consensual sexual intercourse between a man and a woman.

However, a separate mechanism was provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.) for the assumption of jurisdiction by the Court regarding the offences which are still intact in the Ordinance, 1979 ibid. At present, the legal position since 2006 (after the enactment of the Protection of Women (Criminal........

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