ISLAMABAD – In a move that sparked heated debate, the Senate on Friday passed the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which removes the death penalty for harbouring hijackers and for publicly stripping a woman of her clothes. Instead, these offences will now carry life imprisonment.
The bill, presented by Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, aims to align Pakistan’s laws with international commitments, especially the EU’s GSP+ trade agreement, which requires limiting capital punishment to only the most serious crimes.
Currently, Section 354-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) prescribes death or life imprisonment for anyone who assaults a woman and publicly strips her. The new legislation proposes removing the death sentence option, citing international law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which allows the death penalty only for “the most serious crimes.”
The Interior Ministry highlighted that multiple stakeholder meetings had been held since 2021 to review the death penalty’s reduction, aiming to bring it in line with both international law and Islamic jurisprudence.
However, several senators opposed the bill. PTI’s Barrister Syed Ali Zafar argued that stripping a woman in public was as grave as murder and should continue to carry the death penalty. Balochistan Awami Party’s Samina Mumtaz Zehri warned that easing punishments would embolden criminals, especially given Pakistan’s low conviction rates due to weak prosecution. Senator Muhammad Abdul Qadir even questioned whether this would lead to abolishing the death penalty for terrorism.
Responding to criticism, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said harsher punishments do not necessarily reduce crime. He cited European countries where crime rates remain low despite no death penalty. He also reminded the House that the death penalty for stripping a woman was introduced in 1982 during General Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, upgrading it from a seven-year jail term.
The Senate also passed two other bills—one amending the extradition process to remove procedural delays, and another allowing overseas Pakistanis to regain citizenship if they had previously renounced it.
The House will reconvene on Monday to continue its proceedings.
