Bahrain’s parliament repealed Article 353, now the rapist will not be able to escape even after marrying the victim

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Bahrain’s parliament unanimously rejected the rape law on Tuesday. Under this change, even if the rape accused marries the victim, his sentence will not be exempted. Earlier the law was that if the rapist promised or married the victim, then his punishment was waived.

Changes to Bahrain’s rape law

According to media reports, there was pressure from women’s organizations on Bahrain’s parliament. That’s why this law had to be changed. Women’s organizations have been demanding a change in this law for a long time. Now that this law has been repealed, women’s rights organizations have welcomed it. The upper house of Bahrain’s parliament is called the Shura Council. It unanimously abrogated Article 353 on Tuesday.

Changes to Bahrain’s rape law

It was said in this law that if the accused of rape marries the victim, then his punishment will be forgiven. Justice Minister Nawaf Al Mawda said – Now no rapist will be able to escape punishment. Bahrain believes in traditional Muslim culture. All religions are respected in this. We are studying laws related to women. It is necessary to change them with time.

 

After Lebanon, legal changes related to women’s rights were also seen in Muslim countries such as Jordan and Tunisia. On the lines of Bahrain, here too, rapists used to seek forgiveness by marrying the victim. Now these laws have been repealed. Bahrain has a Supreme Council of Women. Hal al-Ansari is its head.

After repealing the old law, Hala told the media that the removal of Article 353 was a big success for women. For this we were demanding since 2015. “This is a major reform in Bahrain’s legal history,” said Khalid Al Mekwad, the UN coordinator in Bahrain. This will protect the basic rights of the women and girls of the country.