PESHAWAR: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday denied bail to a suspected child molester.

While dismissing the bail plea, Justice Ikramullah Khan observed that those involved in heinous crime like child molestation deserved no leniency.

The police said the alleged child molestation was reported in Mian Gujar village in Daudzai area lately.

They said the arrested man was suspected of molesting an eight-year-old girl.

The police said they registered a case ageist the suspect in light of the girl’s medical examination.

They said they had booked the suspect under sections 376 and 511 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The lawyer for the petitioner said his client was falsely implicated in the case as there was no evidence on record against him.

He also said the complainant had made a compromise with his client and that the complainant had no objection to his release on bail.

Additional advocate general Rabnawaz Khan said the petitioner was directly charged with child molestation in the FIR and that the girl had identified him as molester.

He said molestation or sexual assault was an offence against the society and therefore, suspects in such cases couldn’t be freed on basis of a compromise between the two parties.

On the occasion, Justice Ikramullah Khan observed that the things in society had deteriorated to such a level that more and more people were stopping their children from stepping out to play fearing their molestation.

He observed that usually, molesters targeted children when they’re alone.

The judge also observed that bail couldn’t be granted to suspects in molestation cases on the basis of the compromise reached between the two parties as the heinous offence created unrest in the society.

Published in Dawn, Aug 13th, 2014