The Hudood Ordinance (Urdu: حدود مسودہ) (also spelled Hudud) was a law in Pakistan that was enacted in 1979 as part of then-military ruler Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization and replaced or revised in 2006 by the Women's Protection Bill.
The Hudood Law was intended to implement Islamic Shari'a law, by enforcing punishments mentioned in the Quran and sunnah for Zina (extramarital sex), Qazf (false accusation of zina), Offence Against Property (theft), and Prohibition (of alcohol consumption).
The ordinance has been criticized as leading to "hundreds of incidents where a woman subjected to rape, or even gang rape, was eventually accused of Zina" and incarcerated, and defended as punishment ordained by God and victim of "extremely unjust propaganda".
Islamic law used in other countries states that rapists must be punished under laws dealing with "armed robbery" (hiraba). In Pakistan rape, or "Zina bil Jabr" (lit: "forced adulterous sex") is punishable by death.
Read more about Hudood Ordinance: Law Code, In Practice
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