PESHAWAR: A child protection court here has convicted two people in two girl sexual assault cases and awarded them different jail terms and Rs1 million fine each.

In both cases, judge Hina Mehvish ruled that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused, while the evidence on record connected them with the commission of the offence.

Accused Siddiqullah was charged with sexually assaulting a girl of five years of age.

An FIR was registered against him at the Tehkal police station on July 31, 2020, over a complaint lodged by the girl’s father.

Awards them jail terms, Rs1m fine each

He was charged under Section 376 (rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 53 (sexual abuse) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act (CPWA).

The complainant had claimed that his five-year-old daughter had gone to the nearby house of a neighbour for getting her hands dyed with henna for Eid but returned in injured condition and informed the family about the sexual assault.

The court sentenced the accused to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and imposed Rs1 million fine on him.

In the other case, the court handed down seven years imprisonment and Rs1 million fine to the accused, Himatullah.

The accused was charged in an FIR registered at the Rehman Baba police station on July 16, 2020, under Section 76 of the PPC and sections 50 (exposure to seduction) and 53 of the CPWA.

The complainant was the mother of a seven-year-old daughter.

She alleged that her daughter had gone to the nearby shop to buy vegetables, where the shopkeeper sexually assaulted her.

She had registered the complaint after two days of the incident saying some local elders were engaged in a jirga to resolve the issue and when their efforts failed, she approached the police to lodge the complaint.

BAIL REJECTED: The court turned down the bail plea of a man arrested on the charge of kidnapping his minor sister-in-law for marriage.

A case was registered against the suspect, Imran, at a local police station on July 12, 2021, after he allegedly took away his wife’s sister for purpose of marrying her.

The suspect was charged under sections 365-B (kidnapping woman to compel for marriage) and 494 (marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife) of the PPC.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2021