PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has rejected bail plea of a suspect arrested on charges of sexually assaulting and killing a five-year-old girl in Dir Lower district few months ago.

A single-member bench consisting of Justice Shahid Khan observed that keeping in view the circumstantial evidence including DNA and serology analysis reports prima facie could not be ruled out the involvement of petitioner in the commission of the offence rather his connectivity with the same could no way be underestimated.

The bench ruled that the petitioner, Newas Ali Khan, was prima facie connected with the commission of the offence, which also fell within the prohibitory provision of section 497 of Code of Criminal Procedure, therefore, he was not entitled to the concession of bail.

The bench directed that the trial court should ensure early conclusion of the trial, preferably within four months subject to the cooperation of the defence and prosecution to meet the ends of justice.

Directs lower court to ensure early conclusion of trial

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Munda police station in Dir Lower on January 4, 2024 on the complaint of the deceased girl’s father.

The SHO of the police station, Aqal Ameen, claimed that he received information that body of a minor girl was lying near the bank of the Panjkora River, which was shifted to a hospital in Timergara.

He stated when he reached the hospital he found father of the deceased girl present there, who initially lodged a complaint about unnatural death of his daughter against unidentified person.

The complainant stated that his daughter left home a day earlier in the evening and went missing. He stated that they searched for her but she was not found. The next day, he said, body of the deceased was found near bank of the river.

The next day the complainant recorded his statement before a magistrate and named the petitioner for commission of the offence. The petitioner counsel contended that there was no eyewitness to the occurrence and his client was not named in the FIR. He added that the petitioner was falsely implicated in the case.

Rahimullah, an assistant advocate general, and lawyers for the complainant, Aziz Ahmad and Nehal Yousafzai, contended that the evidence on record fully connected the petitioner with the commission of the offence.

The bench observed that medical evidence so collected by the investigation officer as forensic DNA and serology analysis report of the garments of the victim and the petitioner was found positive.

Earlier, an additional session judge in Dir Lower, Amjad Hussain, had also rejected bail plea of the petitioner on April 23, 2024. The judge had ruled that the victim as a minor was subjected to an inhuman act for which the petitioner was specifically charged.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2024