LAHORE: A special court for gender-based violence has awarded life imprisonment, along with 14-year jail term, in a case of sexually assaulting a minor girl.

Sanda police had registered the FIR in 2021 against accused Imran on the complaint of the minor’s father.

The accused, a brother-in-law of the complainant’s elder daughter, took the five-year-old girl to a shrine where he sexually assaulted her.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Kaneez Fatima Bhatti, the presiding judge of the special court, handed down rigorous life imprisonment to the accused for rape under section 376 (iii) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), besides Rs50,000 fine.

The judge also awarded 14-year jail term to the accused for another offence of sexual abuse (in the same case) under section 377-B of the PPC and imposed a fine of Rs1 million.

The accused, who was on bail, was present in the court when the judge announced the guilty verdict. The judge got him arrested and ordered the police to shift him to Kot Lakhpat jail.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2024