Convicted couple challenge verdict in high court

Man was awarded death, wife jailed for sexually assaulting 45 girls by lower court

RAWALPINDI:

A couple convicted for sexually assaulting and forcefully filming inappropriate videos of dozens of girls has challenged the lower court’s verdict. Admitting the appeal of Qasim Jahangir and Kiran Jahangir against their conviction, the high court’s Rawalpindi bench on Friday issued notice to the prosecution.

On Jan 25, a local court in Rawalpindi had handed down its verdict against the couple for kidnapping, sexually assaulting, blackmailing, and also recording inappropriate videos of dozens of girls.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Jahangir Gondal had awarded death sentence to Qasim Jahangir over rape and recording of obscene videos. The judge had announced three-year imprisonment and a total of Rs2.5 million fine on him. Moreover, Kiran Jahangir had been sentenced to life along with a fine of one million rupees.

According to police, the couple had confessed to the sexual assault of 45 girls, taking their photographs and making inappropriate videos of at least 10 victims. The case had gripped media attention for weeks in 2019 after a married female student was abducted from outside Gordon College by a woman who pretended to be a fellow student. The complainant had alleged that she was offered a lift by the woman who later kidnapped her. 

Kiran had told the victim that her brother was coming to pick her in a while. After a few minutes, a man arrived in a grey car and then the woman pushed the victim inside the vehicle and threatened her with a knife to keep her quiet. The student was taken to a house in Gulistan Colony where Qasim, the husband, allegedly raped her while Kiran, the wife, took pictures and recorded video of the crime.

They threatened and blackmailed the victim by showing her sexually explicit video. She was dropped on Tipu Road later at night according to the complainant, later, police arrested the suspects and found dozens of obscene videos of local women on their mobile phones, laptops, and pen drives.

Police said the man had admitted to having kidnapped several girls aged between 8 and 12 with the help of his wife and subjecting them to the heinous crime. Police officials said the couple had sold those videos and photos to an international porn website.