KARACHI: A district and sessions court awarded life imprisonment to a man for raping a four-year-old girl.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (Malir) Syed Ghous Ali Shah Jillani found Muhammad Sarfaraz alias Nikka guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

“After careful consideration of all evidence, witness testimony and legal arguments, this court finds that the prosecution has successfully established the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The convergence of unchallenged eyewitness testimony, scientifically conclusive DNA evidence, expert medical opinion, and physical evidence creates an overwhelming case against the accused that cannot be rebutted by mere procedural criticisms or investigative inefficiencies,” the court ruled.

“The legal principle that no offense should go unchecked and no offender go unpunished, as established in numerous precedents, demands that this court impose appropriate punishment when guilt has been established beyond reasonable doubt. The protection of children from sexual predators represents one of the most important responsibilities of the criminal justice system, and this case clearly warrants conviction and exemplary punishment,” it added.

Reasoning for not awarding the capital punishment, the judge noted: “[The] accused is young and first offender as such these mitigating circumstances warrants lesser punishment instead of death.”

According to state prosecutor Kashif Noor Khan, in May 2022, a neighbhour of the survivor — who was also an eyewitness — saw the victim returning home in a distressed condition, crying after coming out of the accused’s house.

The minor shared her ordeal with the neigbhour that the accused had tied her, muffled her mouth and subjected her to a sexual assault, and pointed towards accused’s house as responsible for the act. The survivor’s mother also saw the signs of sexual abuse on her daughter.

During the trial, the prosecutor had emphasised the unchallenged testimony of eyewitnesses, the scientific certainty of DNA evidence, the medical findings consistent with sexual assault, and the complete absence of any credible defense explanation.

He argued that the convergence of multiple forms of evidence created an unbreakable chain of proof establishing the accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

On the other hand, defence counsel had presented various contentions challenging the prosecution’s case. The counsel argued that the procedural irregularities in evidence collection, the delay in seizure of crucial evidence, and the absence of certain formalities undermined the reliability of the prosecution’s case.

However, the court rejected the defence plea and noted that they failed to address the core scientific evidence or provide any credible alternative explanation for the presence of the accused’s biological material on the survivor’s clothing.

A case was register at Sohrab Goth police station under Section 376-iii of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2025