PESHAWAR, Nov 20: Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan on Monday dismissed the bail petition of a lawyer charged with sexually molesting his minor step-daughter.

The chief justice took suo motu notice of the issue and converted it into a human rights case and summoned the mother of the girl to appear on Nov 27.

Justice Khan directed human rights activist Mussarat Hillali to pursue the case on behalf of the girl.

People present in the court room were stunned when they saw the face of the girl who was hardly 11. Even lawyers who were earlier supportive of their fellow colleagues started feeling sympathy for the girl when she uncovered her face.

The victim is presently residing in the women crisis centre here.

The chief justice dismissed the petition filed by accused Sayatullah Khattak (advocate) and observed that the applicant did not deserve to be released on bail.

The bench earlier directed three female lawyers to take the girl to his chamber and inquire about the incident as the applicant claimed that he was innocent and falsely implicated in the case.

The lawyers confirmed that the girl had been narrating the same story which she had stated before the police.

The FIR of the case was registered on July 14, 2006, at police station Sheikh Maltoon in Mardan. The girl’s mother, Ms Farkhanda, had taken divorce from her previous husband (father of the victim) and married the accused. The accused now has three children.

A few days before the incident, Ms Farkhanda quarrelled with the accused and left his home for Lahore where her sister lived. She had left her daughter while leaving her resresidence.

The victim claimed that on the night of the incident her stepfather asked her to massage him. She added that when she started the massage the accused caught hold of her and sexually abused her.

The victim went to the police station along with a neighbour and narrated her ordeal to the police who registered the case.

It is learnt that her mother has returned to the residence of the accused.

The applicant’s counsel contended that Ms Farkhanda wanted to grab a property from the applicant and due to the same reason he was falsely implicated in the case.