Bail plea of man accused of raping stepdaughter rejected

Sessions judge observes that the petitioner did not appear in person nor did he present his counsel in the court

ISLAMABAD:

A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Saturday rejected the bail plea of a man accused of raping his stepdaughter over his failure to appear in the court or contending the case through a counsel.

Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Atta Rabbani issued a written decision on the bail application of Muhammad Naseem, stating he did not deserve "extraordinary bail".

Judge Rabbani observed that "the petitioner did not appear in person nor did he present his counsel for arguments", leading to the decision.

He further said that the interim bail order issued earlier in the case was now considered withdrawn.

On December 1, Khanna police registered a case on the complaint of Safina Bibi, the second wife of the accused, on the aforementioned charges.

Also read: Man held for harassing stepdaughter

Last month, police registered an FIR against a resident of Patwar Payan village, Peshawar for raping his 14-year-old daughter for the past two years.

The law enforcement agency said that the girl had approached a female relative who encouraged her to report the case to police so she visited the police station and lodged an FIR against her father.

According to child rights activist Imran Takkar, incest is more widespread than generally believed and it is not a good sign for society.

“Children and women are the most vulnerable segment of our society and they are at high risk of rape and sexual violence even by their blood relatives,” he said, adding that most of the times such incidents are covered up by the families in order to save their ‘honour’.

Moreover, psychiatrist Dr Iftikhar advised mothers should be educated to be aware of the possibility of incest behaviour of their husbands or sons.