LAHORE: A sessions court on Tuesday acquitted a man of a girl’s rape after the complainant and the witnesses resiled from their previous statements.

The Factory Area police had registered a case against Saeed Rehman in 2019 on the complaint of his neighbour Muhammad Iftikhar.

The complainant alleged that the suspect raped his 20-year-old daughter.

A prosecutor told the court that the complainant and the witnesses resiled from their statements. He said the complainant claimed that the FIR was a result of misunderstanding.

The complainant told the court that he did not want to pursue the case anymore.

He said he would have no objection to the acquittal of the suspect.

Additional District & Sessions Judge Jamshed Mubarik acquitted the suspect of the charge.

ACQUITTAL: A special court for gender-based violence on Tuesday acquitted a man of raping his step-daughter.

The prosecution said the Manawan police had lodged the FIR against Zulfiqar Ali on the complaint of his wife.

The suspect’s counsel argued that the woman made her daughter give a false statement against her step-father.

He claimed that the woman nurtured a grudge against her husband as he used to stop her from ‘immoral’ activities.

He said the alleged commission of the crime had not been established in the medical examination of the victim.

The court acquitted the suspect by giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2021