The refusal by a sessions court in Karachi to consider DNA tests as evidence in the retrial of the Mazar-i-Quaid gang-rape case is surprising, given that the Supreme Court had declared DNA evidence to be admissible in rape cases many years ago. A few days ago, the court acquitted for the second time the three accused in the gang-rape case. The court was holding a retrial of the case on the instructions of the Sindh High Court. According to the prosecution, the DNA evidence clearly showed that the three accused were involved in the rape, but the court decided not to consider the evidence. The victim’s lawyer appealed for hearing the case under the Pakistan Penal Code, rather than the Hudood Ordinances. However, the court stated that since the Hudood laws had their own “standard of proof” the DNA evidence did not have any evidentiary value. The court decided to acquit the accused stating that the prosecution “failed to produce sufficient evidence through their witnesses of the incident”. The trial court had also acquitted the accused in April 2013 on the same basis.