PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court’s Mingora bench has granted bail to a private schoolteacher arrested last year on the charge of sexually assaulting a nine- year-old student in Swat.

Justice Mohammad Ijaz Khan of a single-member bench accepted the bail petition of the suspect on condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs200,000 each.

The bench observed that since the delay in the trial’s conclusion was not attributable to the petitioner, he was entitled to the concession of bail on statutory grounds as he remained imprisoned for more than 13 months and his trial had yet to conclude.

Last year, his bail petitions were rejected by the high court and Swat’s child protection court after examining records.

The FIR of the alleged assault was registered at the Matta police station on Sept 7, 2021, under Section 377 (unnatural offence) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 53 (sexual abuse) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Commission Act.

He was held for raping nine-year-old in Swat

The complainant was the “assault” victim, who went to the police station along with his father.

The complainant claimed that when he went to school, the accused opened the main gate and asked him to accompany him to a room on the second floor, where he was given snacks before being sexually assaulted.

He added that the accused later gave him Rs300 and asked him to leave the campus.

The boy’s medical examination confirmed the assault.

The petitioner’s counsel contended that under Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the court was empowered to grant bail to a person detained for a continuous period of more than one year for an offence not punishable with death.

The bench observed that after the insertion of Article 10-A in the Constitution, the due process of law, including speedy and fair trial, had been recognised as a fundamental right of every accused.

It added that the records showed that the petitioner was arrested on Sept 7, 2021, while the challan (charge sheet) against him was presented in the trial court on Oct 26, 2021, while the charge against him was framed on Nov 25, 2021.

However, the bench observed that the records indicated that neither the accused nor any person or lawyer acting on his behalf was responsible for the delay in the trial’s conclusion.

It added that unavailability of the presiding officer of the trial court, calls for strike by the local lawyer body and any such grounds couldn’t be “counted towards” the accused, who could be accountable only for delay in the trial caused by him or any person acting on his behalf.

While rejecting the bail plea of the accused, the child protection court had observed that the petitioner was a teacher and the available records fully connected him with the commission of the offence, which wasn’t appropriate for any person, especially those associated with teaching profession.

Similarly, the high court had observed during the hearing on his bail plea that the petitioner belonged to the prestigious profession of teaching but he committed an unnatural offence with a minor student.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2022