LAHORE: A special court for gender-based violence has handed down death penalty to a man after a charge of raping a medical student stood proven against him.

Quaid-i-Azam Industrial Area police had lodged a case in 2016 against Waqas Khalid and Danish Imran on the complaint of the victim girl, a student at a private medical college in Township.

The prosecution said the victim had visited the Teaching Rehmat Memorial Trust Hospital from where the suspects kidnapped her and took her to an unknown place where they subjected her to rape.

The police had arrested Khalid while Imran was declared a proclaimed offender.

The prosecution presented 12 witnesses against the suspect after he pleaded not guilty and opted to contest trial.

The medical examination of the victim conducted on the direction of a judicial magistrate concerned also established the charge of rape.

Presiding judge Rehmat Ali observed that the prosecution fully proved the factum of abduction and commission of rape by Khalid along with his accomplice. He remarked that the defence counsel remained unable to bring on record any malice, ill-will or animosity on the part of the complainant.

“The prosecution has successfully substantiated through independent, cogent and concrete evidence that accused Waqas Khalid has committed zina bil jabar with Ms (H), so the accused has committed offence under sections 376 and 365-B of PPC,” the judge observed.

The judge awarded death sentence to the suspect under Section 376 along with a fine of Rs500,000 on rape charge while life sentence under Section 365-B on charge of abduction.

To the extent of proclaimed offender, the judge consigned the file to record till his arrest.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2019