17 year old girl kills herself because text message told her to

The government will propose amending Pakistan's rape laws to remove the nearly impossible burden of proof on victims and to protect them from retaliatory charges of adultery, a ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday.

The draft legislation likely will be submitted soon to the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, said Mahnaz Rafi, chairwoman for Parliament's special committee for women's development. Parties supporting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf have enough votes to pass the bill.

"This will be a historic change and it will end decades of miseries for women," said Rafi, a lawmaker of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Pakistan has two parallel and sometimes overlapping legal systems - one based on British common law and another based on Islamic law.

Under Islamic, or Shariah, law, women can be sentenced to death by stoning if found guilty of having sex outside of marriage, although the usual sentence is life in prison.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.