KARACHI, July 13: A sessions court sentenced on Friday a man to a total of 15 years in prison on charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl.

Shahbaz Masih was found guilty of raping a five-year-old girl and also committing an unnatural offence with her in July 2010 within the remit of the Saudabad police station.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (east) Tariq Mehmood Khoso pronounced his verdict after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides.

The court handed down five-year imprisonment under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code and imposed a fine of Rs20,000 and in case of default the convict would have to undergo an additional two-month imprisonment.

Another jail term of 10 years was also given to the convict under Section 377 (unnatural offences) of the PPC and he was directed to pay a fine of Rs30,000 and in case of non-payment the accused will suffer further three months in captivity. However, both the sentences would run concurrently.

The judge in his verdict ruled that prosecution witnesses had supported the version of the victim against the accused in the commissioning of the offences and the medical evidence also corroborated the testimonies of the witnesses. The accused also confessed to his guilt before a magistrate.

The accused was charge-sheeted under Section 376. The court observed that it had also established through the evidence that came up on record that the victim was not only raped, but also subjected to an unnatural offence.

The prosecution was successful in proving its case against the accused beyond a shadow of a doubt by placing ample evidence in court, it concluded.

A case (FIR 244/10) was registered against the accused under Section 376 of the PPC on a complaint of the victim’s father. The accused was a neighbour of the victim and the police arrested him after the incident.

The court also extended the benefit of Section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the CrPC to the convict.

Jail authorities produced the accused in court on Friday and following the pronouncement of the judgment the court remanded him back to the prison along with conviction warrants to serve out the remainder of his sentence.