KARACHI, Jan 10: A man was sentenced to death by a sessions court on Tuesday on charges of raping and killing an underage girl.

The court found Gohar Bhatti alias Chanan guilty of killing an 11-year-old daughter of his friend within the remit of Landhi police station in Dec 2005 after subjecting her to a sexual assault.

The court also directed the convict to pay Rs50,000 to the legal heirs of the deceased as compensation.

The convict stood calm and composed as Additional District and Session Judge (south) Javed Ahmed Keerio, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex at the Karachi central prison, read out his verdict against him on Tuesday evening.

The court also sentenced him to life imprisonment as well as to seven years in prison under Sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 220 (commitment for trial or confinement by person having authority who knows that he is acting contrary to law) of the Pakistan Penal Code.A fine of Rs50,000 was imposed on the convict and in case of default he would have to undergo an additional six-month imprisonment.

The court in its verdict observed that all the prosecution witnesses had corroborated the case of the prosecution and their evidence remained consistent on material points. The ocular evidence was also supported by the documentary evidence, it added.

The court further observed that the accused had also voluntarily recorded his confessional statement under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code in the court of a judicial magistrate and also led a police team for the recovery of the victim's body.

The accused in his confession said that he was employed in Qatar and sent money to his friend, the deceased's father, but upon his arrival the latter refused to return the money. That was why he killed the victim after assaulting her.

The court ruled that all the allegations, for which the accused wascharged, had been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

According to the prosecution, the accused took the minor girl to his house in Landhi on Dec 28, 2005, subjected her to rape and killed her. He chopped the body into pieces and dumped it in his house, it added.

The police arrested the accused a few days after the incident and recovered the body on a lead given by him.

A case (FIR 282/2005) was registered against the accused under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 220 of the PPC and Section 10 (2) of the Hudood Ordinance at the Landhi police station on a complaint of the victim's father.

Later, Section 10 (2) was replaced with Section 376 of the PPC.

The convict was produced in court in custody and following the pronouncement of the verdict, the court sent him back to prison along with his conviction warrant.

The court ruled that the death sentence was subjected to the confirmation of the high court.