KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has rejected the bail application of a detained suspect in a case pertaining to alleged abduction, rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.

Police claimed to have booked three suspects along with their two absconding accomplices for allegedly abducting the minor girl on April 12 and murdering her after subjecting her to sexual assault within the remit of the Orangi Town police station.

The victim’s body was found in a deserted area on April 12.

The incident sparked a violent protest by her family and residents of the area.

One of the three detained suspects had moved an application seeking post-arrest bail on the basis of an affidavit said to have been signed by the slain child’s parents.

The ATC-I judge pronounced his verdict, which was earlier reserved after hearing arguments from the defence and the prosecution.

In his order, the judge observed that the case record showed that the accused was connected with the serious crime of kidnapping of a minor girl, who was subsequently murdered after being raped.

He further observed that admittedly the applicant was related to the complainant party and prima facie there appeared to be no reason for his false implication in the present case.

The judge noted that the complainant as well as the father and the mother of the victim appeared before the court and had disowned the contents of the affidavit, which the suspect claimed that they had signed “voluntarily”.

The complainant and the parents claimed that they were “forced” to sign the affidavit.

He further noted that the medical report available on record showed that the minor girl was murdered after being raped and one of the suspects had confessed his involvement in the incident before a judicial magistrate.

“It is the settled law that for the purpose of grant/rejection of bail only tentative assessment of the material available on the record is to be drawn and deeper appreciation is prohibited, hence at this stage I find no merits in the bail application, the same is rejected,” ruled the judge.

Earlier, a detained suspect had moved the bail application through his defence counsel Imamuddin Chandio, who argued that despite the fact that his client’s name was not mentioned in the FIR, the police implicated him on the basis of suspicion in the light of the statement of the complainant due to old grievances of the families.

Only a few days before the incident the father of the deceased child and the suspect had quarrelled with each other, the counsel added.

On the other hand, assistant prosecutor general Mohammad Noonari vehemently opposed the bail plea arguing that the applicant was a co-accused in the case.

The applicant had instigated the suspect and his two sons to commit the offence in order to “teach a lesson” to the victim’s father and offered them Rs250,000 for performing such an act, the prosecutor claimed.

Mr Noonari claimed that the said affidavit had been obtained through harassment, as the witnesses had disclosed this fact to him.

He pleaded to dismiss the bail plea.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2018

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