BADIN: An additional sessions court on Thursday sentenced a man to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of raping a mentally challenged 10-year-old girl in Matli town.

According to the prosecution, the convict, Allah Bux Shaikh, abducted the minor girl six months ago and had subjected her to rape and torture.

After hearing the arguments presented during the session, Additional District and Sessions Judge Rahmatullah Moriyo handed down a sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs20,000 for the offence.

After announcement of the verdict, the convict was sent to Central Jail Hyderabad.

Rape is notoriously difficult to prosecute in Pakistan. In April 2011, the Supreme Court had upheld the acquittal of five men sentenced to death in Pakistan's most famous rape case, that of Mukhtar Mai.

Mai was gang raped in 2002 on the orders of a village council as punishment, after her brother, who was aged just 12 at the time, was accused of having illicit relations with a woman from a rival clan.

A local court had sentenced six men to death, but a higher court acquitted five of them in March 2005, and commuted the sentence for the main accused, Abdul Khaliq, to life imprisonment.