Supreme Court stresses gender-sensitive approach in domestic violence investigations and court proceedings

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has called for gender-sensitive investigations and judicial proceedings in domestic violence cases, stressing the need to address gender and patriarchal biases within the criminal justice system.

The court observed that protecting women requires not only a change in social attitudes but also reforms in the way such cases are investigated and adjudicated.

Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, who authored a 10-page judgment, said provincial governments must ensure proper training for police officers to help them recognise and overcome gender-based and patriarchal biases.

He said law enforcement agencies must ensure that all available evidence is identified, preserved and presented before the court.

The judgment noted that domestic homicide is often difficult to prove because such crimes take place inside private homes, where perpetrators may have control over the crime scene and opportunities to destroy evidence or present a homicide as a suicide, accident or attack by an outsider.

The court said the privacy of a matrimonial home should not become a shield for those responsible for violence.

The observations were made while deciding a jail appeal filed by Habibullah, who had challenged the Sindh High Court’s rejection of his plea against his conviction for murdering his wife, Aqeela Bibi, in Karachi in 2011.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Kakar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim upheld his life sentence and a fine of Rs500,000 as compensation for the deceased’s legal heirs.

The court observed that domestic violence cases fall into the category of “crimes of difficult proof” because victims are often surrounded by close relatives who may be reluctant to testify

 It noted that married women can be particularly vulnerable when living with their husbands and in-laws, allowing perpetrators greater opportunities to conceal the circumstances surrounding a death.

Justice Kakar also expressed concern over attempts to tarnish the character of women after their deaths in order to justify violence against them.

The judgment said such practices reflect deeply rooted patriarchal attitudes and warned that similar prejudice must not influence the criminal justice system, stressing that every death involving suspected violence against women deserves a thorough, fair and complete investigation.