ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: The Federal Shariat Court has set aside a judgment in which a rapist was set free and awarded seven-year rigorous imprisonment to him.

Noor Ellahi, resident of a village in Tehsil Talagang, District Chakwal, had lodged a complaint that his 10-year-old daughter was raped by Ahmad Hassan Shah.

The additional sessions judge Chakwal in its judgment on April 12, 2001, acquitted accused Ahmad Hasan by giving him benefit of doubt.

Rejecting the verdict, a division bench of the FSC said the reasoning was “artificial”, and termed it bordering on “perversity”. The bench consisted of Justice Saeedur Rehman Farrukh and Justice Zafar Pasha Chaudhry.

The shariat court held that there was no previous enmity between the complainant party and the appellant. The alleged dispute over a piece of land remained unproved as the respondent completely failed to adduce any evidence about it.

“It does not appeal to the reason that a father would put the dignity of his young daughter at stake and stigmatize her for the rest of her life and also ruin the honour of his family by levelling false allegation of her rape.”

The FSC ruled that the trial judge failed to notice material evidence. The appellant shall be arrested and sent to jail to suffer the sentence, the court ordered.