KARACHI: A sessions court has dismissed the bail plea of a janitor accused of raping a 10-year-old girl within the premises of a school.

The 60-year-old janitor, employed at a school within the jurisdiction of Kalri police station, had filed an application for post-arrest bail before Additional District and Sessions Judge (South) Ashraf Hussain Khowaja.

After hearing the arguments from the prosecution and defence, the court dismissed the bail plea, stating that sufficient material was available on record to connect the accused with the heinous and non-bailable offence.

The court noted that the medical examination report and the statements of the school principal, teacher and other staff members supported the prosecution’s case against the applicant.

According to state prosecutor Irfana Qadri, on May 30, the 10-year-old girl went to the third floor of the school to use the restroom, where the 60-year-old janitor allegedly overpowered her and raped her.

Later, the girl, who was studying in the third standard, informed her parents about the incident. After completing the legal formalities, a medical examination was conducted at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where the medico-legal officer determined that she had been subjected to ‘digital rape’.

During the hearing, the defence counsel argued that his client had been working at the school for 30 years without any previous complaints against him. He also contended that the FIR was registered after a delay of 10 days and that the survivor did not report the incident to any teacher or staff member immediately after it occurred.

On the other hand, prosecutor Irfana Qadri argued that staff members’ statements indicated that the suspect was not with them at the time of the incident and appeared confused upon his return. She further contended that the principal and a teacher had stated that the suspect had gone to the third floor and came back after half an hour. She also informed the court that CCTV footage had been sent to forensics expert.

A case was registered at the Kalri police station under Section 376 (rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2024