KARACHI: A sessions court sentenced a man to seven-year rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor boy in his house.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Ashraf Hussain Khowaja, who is also the presiding officer of the Gender-Based Violence Court (South), found Safiullah alias Qari guilty of raping the 10-year-old minor boy at his house within the remits of Mahmoodabad police station two years ago.

“Few contradictions of minor nature appearing in evidence are immaterial. Otherwise, the prosecution case is fully established. Accordingly, the prosecution has succeeded in proving the charge against the accused beyond reasonable shadow of doubt,” the court observed.

The court imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on the convict and ruled that in case of default, he shall serve additional three months in prison.

According to state prosecutor Irfana Qadri, the complainant, also the mother of the survivor, informed the police that on the day of the incident, her son was playing outside their house. Meanwhile, the accused that lived in the neighbourhood approached her son and asked for help. When her son went with him, the accused took him inside and raped him.

He threatened him with dire consequences if he told anyone about the incident.

Two days later, the survivor told his mother about his health. Subsequently, the mother lodged a complaint and got conducted his medical examination.

The court noted: “On perusal of evidence brought at the trial by the prosecution, it appears that the victim child has fully supported the version of the complainant in his evidence and nothing contradicting has come on record during his cross-examination.”

But the accused denied the prosecution’s allegations during the trial and claimed innocence. He also did not testify under oath.

A case was registered at Mahmoodabad police station under Section 377 (rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024