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Islamabad: Pakistan's upper house of parliament, the Senate, passed a Bill curtailing the scope of Islamic laws on rape yesterday, paving the way for President Pervez Musharraf to sign it into law.
The National Assembly, or the lower house, passed the Women's Protection Bill last week, in what was seen as a major test of Musharraf's commitment to his vision of "enlightened moderation" for the predominantly Muslim country.
The main change proposed in the Bill takes the crime of rape out of the sphere of the religious laws, known as the Hudood Ordinances.
Under the Hudood Ordinances, a rape victim had to produce four male witnesses to prove the crime, or face the possibility of prosecution for adultery.
The proposed change does away with that requirement and will allow convictions to be made on the basis of forensic and circumstantial evidence.
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