PESHAWAR: A local court on Saturday convicted a person for desecration of the Holy Quran and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

An additional sessions judge, Bukht Alam, ruled that the prosecution proved its case against the accused without any shadow of doubt and he was convicted under section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The court extended to the convict the benefit of section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, under which his period of detention prior to his conviction would be counted in his prison term.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Agha Mir Jani Shah police station here on November 27, 2020. The complainant in the FIR was father of the accused, whereas his brother also testified against him.

The complainant said that his son was a tubewell operator. He claimed that his son was mentally stable, not having any ailment, but was addicted to ice drug. He stated that they were asking him not to take that drug.

The complainant alleged that at midnight the accused put on fire a copy of the Holy Quran and intentionally desecrated it.

The deputy public prosecutor, Shah Saud, appeared for the state and contended that the evidence on record fully connected the accused with the commission of the offence.

He said that the accused had also confessed to his guilt while recording his statement before a magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The court observed that the site plan and statements of the witnesses including that of the investigation officer were in consonance with the contents of the FIR and thus the accused facing trial could in no way dispel the charge against him or shatter the prosecution version in any way, which could entitle him to its benefit.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2023