E/CN.4/1995/34 page 105 allegedly blindfolded for two days in an unknown place and deprived of food and drink. Norman Amir Saigol was said to have had his legs pulled apart in different directions during interrogation. 543. Mohammad Tariq was arrested on 30 June 1992 and taken by police to North Nazimabad police station. He was questioned about his brother and when he could supply no information, he was allegedly beaten and kicked unconscious. On 27 July he was reportedly transferred to Taimuria police station, tortured, and released after his family had paid officials a large sum of money. 544. The Special Rapporteur also informed the Government that he had received information indicating that the substantial majority of women held in police custody were subjected to some form of sexual abuse, including rape. Registering a rape complaint was said to be problematic, because the Islamic Zina Ordinance of 1979 made it difficult for a woman to meet the evidential requirements to establish her case. Failing to establish such a case reportedly exposed the complainant to a potential charge of illicit sexual intercourse, an offence punishable under the Ordinance with death by stoning. It was further reported that when the alleged perpetrator of rape was a member of the police, army, or other governmental official, the police often refused to register a complaint or pressured or bribed the victim into dropping the charges. 545. The Government in October 1992 reportedly approved an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure under which women may not be held in a police station overnight and may only be interrogated in the presence of their husbands or a close male relative. Under the amendment, women would have to be held in judicial custody and could be moved to police custody for interrogation only on court orders. The amendment was said to have not as yet been approved by parliament. 546. The individual cases summarized in the paragraphs below were also communicated to the Government. 547. Lau, a 14-year-old girl, was allegedly raped by three police officers, including a head constable, on 17 October 1992 at the police station in Tando Ghulam Haider in Hyderabad district. She was reported to have been one of eight members of the Bheel tribe returning in a van from a festival who were stopped by police near Matli, Sindh province. The eight travellers were allegedly arrested and beaten. Three officers were tried and convicted of gang rape, but the conviction was overturned on procedural grounds. 548. Shamin, a 21-year-old mother of two children, was reportedly kidnapped and raped by three men in North Nazimabad in Karachi. After her mother lodged a complaint in the Pirabad police station, Pirabad police arrested Shamin instead of investigating the rape allegations. They allegedly threatened to charge her with adultery and demanded payment for her release. When her mother could only procure part of the sum requested, they charged Shamin under the Zina Ordinance and held her in police custody for six days, during which time two police officers and a third unnamed person allegedly regularly raped