Pakistan drops draft on chemical castration for rapists

By MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A lawmaker from Pakistan’s ruling party says the government dropped a controversial clause allowing for chemical castration of convicted rapists from a proposed bill, after a council of clerics said such a punishment was against Islam. The lawmaker says the clause was excluded before the government sent a new anti-rape law to parliament for voting earlier this week. The government on Wednesday backed dozens of bills, and some local media incorrectly reported that the castration bill was approved. Rights group Amnesty International promptly denounced the bill in a statement, saying it was a “cruel and retrograde” measure.