i am not sure, i am not expert but i think it can..
however, you need to understand pakistani confessions..99% of them are forced and 99% of them say they confessed under fear of punjab police danda in court
The issue here is Zina (consentual) vs Zina (bil Jabr involving consent of one partner).
Zina:
There is no disagreement on the requirement of 4 witnesses to prove zina between consenting couple. This makes proving the crime extremely difficult, unless the couple chooses to commit it in front of public, or uploads the video on internet (in current times). The reason to make proving zina so difficult is that Allah wants to give His creation plenty of chances to repent for a sin he/ she committed privately. (Some hadiths also suggest that even Prophet (PBUH) gave ample chances to someone to not disclose who wanted to confess).
Zina bil Jabr:
In one of the cases, Federal Shariat Court has already concluded that rape is not ordinary Zina, but it's a form of Fasad fil Ardh/ Hirabah.
Why it's considered Hirabah, because according to one tradition, four witnesses were not required. Check this out:
When a woman went out for prayer at dawn, a man attacked her on the way and raped her. She shouted but the rapist escaped. When another man came by, she complained: “That man did such and such to me.” And when a company of the Emigrants came by, she said: “That man did such and such to me.” They went and seized the man whom they thought had raped her and brought him to her. She said: “Yes, this is the man.” Then they brought him to the Messenger of God. When he (the Prophet) was about to pass sentence, the man who (actually) had raped her stood up and said: “Messenger of God, I am the man who did it to her.” He (the Prophet) said to her: “Go away, for God has forgiven you.” But he told the man some good words [Abū Dāwūd said: meaning the man who was seized], and of the man who had had intercourse with her, he said: “Stone him to death.”
Now if you look at the above report, there are few things which are quite clear when Prophet (PBUH) awarded stonning sentence (and was about to award a sentence to the first accused):
1 - No four witnesses were required and woman's statement was considered true
2 - Circumstantial evidence was accepted (when other men went towards the way where the victim pointed out, they found a man who clearly resembled the actual culprit otherwise the woman wouldn't have confused the accused with the culprit)
3 - It is not mentioned, but anyone can easily ascertain that the first accused's clarification wasn't taken into consideration. It is beyond imagination that a person who didn't even commit the crime wouldn't have said anything in his defence.
4 - The accused (and later the culprit) was stonned.
5 - The woman was pardoned and Qadhaf wasn't applied to her on wrong testimony that could have resulted in the death of an innocent.
In current times, it is very difficult to imagine that a rape will not carry a circumstantial evidence. For example, a lady accuses a man that he raped her in his home is very difficult to accept. Circumstantial evidence suggests that she went to his house (who is na Mahram in the first place) and spent time alone with him. This gives a hint that she willingly went to his house. Similarly, she is found in a hotel room, of course she has a lot to answer for. If she is raped inside her own home, then of course someone has broken into her house when she was alone, didn't open the door by herself. A plenty of circumstantial evidences can be collected.
The rape cases that are being reported in Pakistan, majority have plenty of evidence to suggest that 4 witness requirement doesn't apply. For example, in the current case of motorway, what is the reason to not accept woman's testimony? She was on her way, her car broken down, evidence suggested that she called police for help. She even called her relatives.. her children were with her, she and her children were found with severe wounds.. What is the reason that her testimony should be rejected just on the basis of the requirement of 4 witnesses when the above tradition clearly proves otherwise?
In other cases, a lady was returning from a marriage ceremony.. or someone was inside her home with her father and other family members while she is raped.. or someone is found dead after being raped.. these are clear examples of what's going on.. Circumstances clear many doubts and in the cases of rapes currently occuring, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that crimes have happened that do not come under ordinary zina.
tribune.com.pk
