PESHAWAR, July 31: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday set aside acquittal of a person charged with sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl and ordered his re-trial by the anti-terrorism court in Mardan.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan and Justice Qaim Jan Khan, ordered the arrest of accused Abdul Qayyum, who was present in the courtroom.

An anti-terrorism court in Swat had acquitted the accused on March 13, citing Section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code under which the trial court was empowered to acquit a man before the conclusion of the trial.

The high court bench observed that the accused had been involved in a brutal crime and the trial court had erred on various counts while acquitting him before the conclusion of the trial. The bench observed that his re-trial should not be conducted by the same court and instead the Mardan ATC should retry him.

The bench was hearing an appeal filed by the state against the acquittal of the accused.

Deputy Advocate-General Sardar Ali Raza appeared for the state and contended that according to the medical examination report of the girl she had been assaulted in a brutal manner, adding that the victim had been left in a critical condition with injuries to her entire body.

The FIR of the case was registered with the Saidu Sharif Police Station in the Swat district by the father of the victim.

In the FIR, he charged that the accused had kidnapped his daughter because of a family dispute whose details he refused to divulge.

The kidnapped girl was later found in a critical condition. The accused was charged under Section 364-A of Pakistan Penal Code, dealing with kidnapping of a minor, and Section 6 of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979.

The accused had filed an application with the ATC in Swat, which accepted his application and acquitted him within two months.

The DAG, Sardar Ali Raza, contended that the acquittal of the accused before the conclusion of trial was an injustice, as even the statement of the investigation officer had not been recorded.

The defence counsel contended that there was no evidence on record to connect the accused to the commission of the offence.

The chief justice observed that lawyers should avoid appearing for such accused when the evidence on record prima facie connected them with the commission of such brutal offences.

The chief justice recalled that during his career as a lawyer he had avoided cases in which minors were sexually assaulted.

While Mr Raza was narrating the facts of the case, all those present in the courtroom got emotional, as the girl in question was allegedly treated particularly badly.