PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has rejected bail plea of an accused charged with child pornography and sexually abusing and blackmailing a 15-year old boy.

A single-member bench of Justice Fazal Subhan observed that the mobile phone through which an objectionable video was made by the accused/petitioner Mohammad Junaid Shah was recovered by the police on his pointation.

The bench further observed that prima facie the record showed that the petitioner forcibly abused the minor boy at gunpoint and the offence not only showed moral turpitude but also a crime against the society as a whole.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at police station Banda Daud Shah, Karak, under section 377 (unnatural offence) and 376 (rape) of the PPC and section 48 (child pornography) and 53 of the KPCPWA.

The victim claimed that on Feb 13, 2023, the accused took him to nearby mountains and made his objectionable video at gunpoint. He alleged that the accused threatened him to upload the said video on social media and started to blackmail him.

The victim claimed that the accused repeatedly assaulted him on different occasions.

The petitioner’s counsel contended that the FIR was registered with delay of seven or eight months and his client was implicated in the case with mala fide intentions.

The bench observed that delay in filing complaints in such like cases was immaterial for the reason that the petitioner allegedly used to blackmail the complainant/victim for uploading his video on social media, which forced him to surrender to his demand of unnatural offence.

Meanwhile, a bench consisting of Justice Shahid Khan rejected bail petition of an accused arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl of 15 in Swat district over a month ago.

The bench observed that such incidents shocked the society across the board and had adverse effects on the society in general and youth in particular.

The bench observed that the punishment for the offence also fell within the prohibitory clause of section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and thus the accused, Mohammad Dawood, didn’t deserve to be extended the concession of bail.

The bench, however, directed the trial court to conclude the trial of the case at the earliest preferably within three months.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Rahimabad police station, Swat, on Dec 17, 2023, under section 376 (rape) of Pakistan penal Code and section 53 (sexual abuse) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act (KPCPWA).

The alleged victim had reported the occurrence to the police stating that the accused was her neighbor and few months ago she got in contact with him through cellular phone.

She claimed that on the day of occurrence the accused invited her to his shop from where he took her in a motorcar. She alleged that at a deserted place he sexually assaulted her.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2024