Juvenile gets life for rape, murder of minor
A child protection court on Tuesday, January 25, awarded life imprisonment and a total fine of Rs. 130,000 to a juvenile convicted of raping and murdering a four-year-old girl in Mardan in 2018.
In the 40-page judgment, it was noted that the prosecution had proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt. However, as the accused was just 16-years-old at the time of the offense, the maximum penalty of death under section 302 (punishment for murder) could not be imposed per the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018.
The accused was tried for sections 302, 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 14), 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and sections 37 (punishment for violence) and 53 (sexual abuse) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010.
Child Protection Court Judge Ijaz Ahmad found the offender guilty on all counts, and sentenced him to life imprisonment under section 302 of the PPC along with a fine of Rs. 100,000 to the heirs of the victim; seven years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 10,000 under section 363 of the PPC; 14 years imprisonment under section 364-A of the PPC; 25 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 20,000 under section 376 of the PPC; three years imprisonment under section 37 of the KP Child Protection Act and 14 years rigorous imprisonment under section 53 of the same act.
The court had ruled that the accused understood the nature of the offences of sexual assault and murder and that they were forbidden by law.
According to the case details, the accused had sexually assaulted and then strangled dead four-year-old Asma on January 14, 2018. Her body was discovered in a field near her house in the Jandarpar Gujjar Garhi area of Mardan. An autopsy found torture marks on different parts of the victim’s body. Police were able to trace the culprit through DNA evidence and arrested him three weeks following the murder.
The accused was awarded life term by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on July 9, 2018, however the Peshawar High Court set aside the judgment on November 7, 2019, observing that the ATC did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case and referred to the child protection court for a retrial.
Policeman accused of raping disabled girl surrenders
A Karachi policeman accused of sexually assaulting a disabled teen girl at gunpoint turned himself in on Tuesday to the District South Investigation SSP, a day after the rape survivor’s father registered an FIR at the Women Police Station under sections 376 and 505B (statements conducing to public mischief with intent to cause fear or alarm to the public) of the PPC.
According to the complainant, he had taken his 18-year-old daughter to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) after she complained of abdominal pain. An ultrasound revealed the girl was pregnant, following which she told her family that on July 28, 2021, neighbor and relative Mukhtiar Rana arrived at her home while she was alone and raped her at gunpoint. She told family that the accused had threatened her into silence.
The accused serves as a driver in the police in District Central.
Following the incident, family members, neighbours and activists held a protest outside the Karachi Police Office on Sharea Faisal on Tuesday, demanding the immediate arrest of the accused.
Couple arrested for domestic abuse of child
Police on Tuesday arrested a couple for allegedly torturing a 12-year-old girl in Akbarabad, Faisalabad.
A team of Women Harassment and Violence Cell personnel approached the home of accused Muhammad Sahil and his wife Asma after receiving information of the abuse from media, recovered the girl and handed over the victim to the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau. She was later admitted to a hospital.
Police registered a case under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 324 (attempted murder) and 328 (exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years by parent or person having care of it) of the PPC, and section 34 (unauthorized custody) of the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act 2004.
According to the abuse survivor, she was burnt with hot metal rods by her father and stepmother for eating instant noodles without their permission. She also stated that she her brother, also a minor, had run away from home because of the abuse.
