362 women still languishing under Hadood cases

RAWALPINDI—As many as 362 women are still languishing in various jails in Pakistan under Hadood cases.
According to Global Foundation, a human rights organization - reported Sunday that there were 184 women are behind the bars in 30 jails in Punjab, 148 in 16 prisons in Sindh, 27 in 21 jails of NWFP and 03 imprisoned in Quetta Jail, Balochistan under the Hadood cases.
The report said the Hadood cases against 301 women, who had knotted in love marriages, registered only in one year. President and Executive Director Ulfat Kazmi, while giving details, said so far 22,000 cases have been filed under Hadood Ordinance after its enforcement on January 10, 1979.
He elaborated that out of the 362 women, 194 them were married while 64 children of ages from one month to seven year were also suffering hardships of prisons along with their mothers. “The prisoner women were of ages between 12 to 72 years”, he added. He said most of them were house-wives while several used to work at some office, beauty-parlour or factory before detention.
He said 32 women incarcerated in Central Jail, Adiyal, 54 in Women Jail Multan, 45 in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, 154 in three Central Jails, Karachi while rest were confined in Central Jail Sahiwal, District Jail, Jhang, Central Jail, Peshawar, Central Jail, DI Khan, District Jail, Kohat, Mardan Jail, Sawat Jail, Abbotabad Jail, Bannu Jail and District Jail, Quetta.—Agencies