LHC seeks replies about rape case trial

Petitioner requests opportunity to prove complainant was his wife

LAHORE:

A man who has been in jail for two years has approached the Lahore High Court with a plea that the complainant of a rape case against him was his wife and the mother of his daughter.

The petitioner contended during the hearing that the trial court had deprived him of the right of producing as evidence a Nikahnama.

LHC Justice Sohail Nasir directed the trial court to not announce the verdict till the decision on the application. He sought replies from the woman and the police.

The petitioner had been claiming in the trial court that the complainant of the FIR was his wife who had given birth to his daughter. The complainant denied that she had ever been his wife and accused him of raping her.

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The trial has lingered on for two years.

Petitioner Abid Hussain’s counsel Advocate Mian Dawood filed an application for re-examination of the investigation officer of the case. During cross-examination, the IO revealed that she had not conducted investigation regarding the verification of the second marriage of the petitioner with the complainant. It was also revealed that the complainant used several names.

When complainant was cross-examined, she denied the marriage. The counsel filed another application for summoning the secretary of the union council Javed Park, Lahore along with relevant record for matching the thumb impression of complainant.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2021.