KARACHI, May 20: An additional district and sessions judge sentenced four people, including a woman, to seven-year term for kidnapping 11 infants who were to be smuggled to Malta.

Judge Jawed Qaiser of Karachi East also imposed a fine of Rs100,000 each on convicts Dennis Charles, son of Dick Marshal, his younger brother Derrick Charles, Istekhar, son of Bashir, and his wife Samina.

The judge ordered that defaulter on payment would have to undergo an additional one-year term.

The case was registered against the accused with the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police on March 15, 2002, by sub-inspector Tariq Ali.

The then area nazim, Yaseen Nagori, and councillor Mohammed Younus had reported to the police about presence of infants at bungalow No A-29 in Block-13, Gulshan-i-Iqbal.

On receiving the information, SI Tariq Ali, with head-constable Farrukh, constable Taj Bibi, area nazim and councillor, raided the bungalow where four boys and seven girls aged between 15 days and one year were found lying on the floor of a room.

During preliminary interrogation, Dennis Charles disclosed that he had paid different amounts to some unknown people for bringing infants from different localities. He also stated that the infants were to be smuggled to Malta and were to be sold to childless couples for US1500 to 2000 each.

The accused also admitted to have smuggled many infants to Malta with the help of his brother Derrick and his wife Cheta.

During the raid, the police also seized seven passports of children, most of whom were ill and feeble. The infants were later handed to the Edhi Trust.

Meanwhile, the additional district and sessions judge, West, Syed Abid Hussain, sentenced a man to a five-year term for sodomising a seven-year-old boy.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs2,000 on convict Shah Liyar, who would have to undergo an additional two-month term in case of default on the payment. The accused was arrested on May 20, 2001, by Mominabad police on the complaint of victim’s father, Gul Mohammed.