PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has granted bail to a juvenile suspect arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a minor boy last month in Dir Lower.

A single-member bench of Justice Shahid Khan accepted bail petition of the suspect with the condition to furnish two surety bonds of Rs200,000 each.

The bench observed that the petitioner was a juvenile offender in view of Nadra (National Database and Registration Authority) record whereby his date of birth had been shown as March 3, 2010, which meant at the time of occurrence he was over 14 years of age.

The bench referred to an earlier judgment of the Supreme Court wherein a 16-year old suspect was granted bail.

The case was registered at Samarbagh police station, Dir Lower on Aug 7, 2024, on complaint filed by the victim boy’s father under section 376 (Rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 53 (sexual abuse) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act.

The complainant stated that he had gone to purchase some household items and when returned back home in the evening he saw his seven-year-old son weeping.

He stated that his son had gone out of home when the suspect approached him and entice him away on pretext of providing him apples and also to make his hair-cut in army style.

He alleged that the suspect had sexually assaulted the minor boy, which had also resulted in injuries to him.

Advocate Habibur Rahim appeared for the petitioner and argued that he was a juvenile in terms of the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018.

He contended that at the time of occurrence he was 14 years of age and under section 6 of the JJSA an offence committed by an accused of below 16 years of age should be considered a bailable offence.

He argued that the FIR was registered after a delay of many hours and there was no eyewitness of the occurrence.

An assistant advocate general, representing the state, stated that the petitioner was directly charged in the FIR and the medical examination of the victim also confirmed commission of the offence.

Earlier, an additional sessions judge in Dir Lower had rejected bail plea of the petitioner on Aug 16 observing that prima facie the evidence on record connected him with the commission of the offence.

About delay in lodging of the complaint, the judge had observed that as the victim was a minor and his father was not present at home, therefore, delay could occur in such like cases. It was added that the offence was heinous in nature and the petitioner didn’t deserve to be extended the concession of bail.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2024