MANSEHRA: Additional district and sessions judge Ajmal Tahir on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to a seminary teacher after conviction for sexually assaulting one of his students in Perhana area here in Dec 2019.

Convict Qari Shamsuddin was also fined Rs20,000 under Section 53 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act, 2020.

Public prosecutor Bushra Zeb told reporters outside the court that if the convict didn’t pay the fine, he would stay behind bars for six more months.

She said that the convict was also convicted under Section 337 of PPC and would serve two years jail term and pay Rs50,000 fine to his victim’s family.

Ms Zeb said that the convict was handed down 17 years imprisonment and a total of Rs75,000 fine.

She said that the DNA and medical test of the seminary student confirmed sexual assault.

The police had arrested four co-accused, including the convict’s elder brother and seminary owner after the incident sparked public outcry. However, they were released on the court’s orders.

An FIR was also lodged against Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Mufti Kifayatullah and his aide, Abdul Malik, for allegedly sheltering the convict before producing him before the police. The two, however, denied the charge.

TREE PLANTATION: District and session judge Ziaur Rehman inaugurated a tree plantation campaign at the Judicial Complex here on Wednesday.

He planted a deodar sapling as part of plans to grow 3,000 trees on the premises.

Hazara division chief conservator Yusuf Khan, who was also present on the occasion, said that his department would plant hundreds and thousands of saplings in Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, Kolai-Palas, Torghar, Upper and Lower Kohistan and Battagram districts.

“We are giving tree plantation a top priority for pollution-free environment in the region,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2022