PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has tabled the KP Domestic Violence Against Women (Prevention and Protection) Bill 2018 in the provincial assembly here on Monday, which states that any person who commits an act pursuant to sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have committed an offence and shall be liable to be punished with sentences carrying prison terms and fines as provided for the offences in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) 1860.
The bill was tabled by provincial minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights, Sultan Muhammad Khan in the assembly.
Earlier, the provincial cabinet had approved the KP Domestic Violence Against Women (Prevention and Protection) Bill 2018.
The bill provides for creating district protection committees in each district of the province.
These 10-member committees will be headed by the deputy commissioner of the relevant district and would including the district health executive officer, the social welfare district officer, the district public prosecutor, a representative of the district police and four representatives of the civil society. The chairperson of the relevant district committee on the status of women will serve as member-cum-secretary of the committee.
In an interview, Sultan Muhammad Khan said that the provincial government is making necessary legislation for protection of women against domestic violence.
The provincial law minister said after passing of the bill, women protection committees will be constituted at district level to provide legal assistance to the affected women.
He said a database system has also been made operational for protection of human rights in the province.
Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan have all passed laws against domestic violence, including many other pro-women legislation such as the Punjab Women Protection Authority Act 2017 and the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women Act 2015.
