Usman Mirza, four others get life imprisonment

Culprits had harassed a couple at gunpoint in Islamabad’s E-11 area in July 2021

ISLAMABAD:

A sessions court in Islamabad has sentenced five convicts, including prime accused Usman Mirza, in the E-11 couple sexual assault case to life imprisonment and fined them Rs200,000 each on the basis of digital evidence.

However, two accused, Umar Bilal Marwat and Rehan Hussain, were acquitted. Additional Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani announced the verdict in the E-11 couple sexual abuse case. Besides Usman, Idris Qayyum Butt, Mohib Khan Bangash, Hafiz Ataur Rehman and Farhan Shaheen were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Usman and his accomplices were sentenced under Section 354-A (assault or use of criminal force to a woman and stripping her of her clothes) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The case surfaced when a video of the culprits harassing a couple at gunpoint went viral on social media in July 2021.

عثمان مرزا کیس میں متاثرہ لڑکی اور نوجوان کے منحرف ہونے کے باوجود عمر قید کی سزا جدید ٹیکنالوجی کی بطور شہادت قبولیت کی انتہائ خوش آئند ہے، وہی معاشرے ترقی کا زینہ چڑھتےہیں جہاں انصاف ہو انشاللہ سیالکوٹ اور دیگر مقدموں میں بھی انصاف کے قریب ہیں

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 25, 2022

On Friday, the five criminals were presented before the court and shown the video clip. All of them said that they had nothing to do with the incident. The court in its judgment said that the victim girl Sundas had admitted their presence before the assistant commissioner.

The victim, Asad, admitted during investigation that he knew about the incident but did not want to talk about it. After watching the video clip, Asad said that he was wearing a dark gray shirt while Sundas a white sweater.

Read: Usman Mirza, Shahrukh Jatoi cases challenge for justice system: Fawad

He also said that the man in the video “took sexual advantage of her”. The court noted that it could easily be said here that the boy and the girl were either under pressure or out of fear or coercion or taking financial advantage of the accused and backing away from their statement.

The court observed that no doubt he had a legal and moral obligation to remain steadfast in his stand before the police and magistrates and during the identity parade, but he backed down despite the support of the media and society.

“It is the responsibility of the court to decide on the basis of facts rather than on technicalities. “The court cannot sit as a spectator because the court is the protector of the whole society. “This is a crime not against any individual but against the society.” The judge said that the victim's deviation from the statement is different and the prosecution's case is based on digital evidence.

Speedy trial of Usman Mirza case has been completed in five-and-a-half months, the judge noted.
On September 28, 2021, seven accused, including the main Usman Mirza, were indicted. The case began on July 6, 2021, after the video went viral on social media. Three accused in the case are still at large.

The Islamabad High Court had first set a deadline of September 28 to November 28. The second deadline was set for February 28. On July 6, 2021, a video surfaced on social media of a girl being stripped naked and harassed in Sector E-11, Islamabad, after which the Islamabad police registered a case and arrested seven suspects. Two of the accused were released on bail. However, three accused are still at large.

Prime Minister Imran Khan taking note of this case had directed the Islamabad IG to take action to get the strictest punishment for the accused. The Islamabad High Court had directed the trial court to complete the trial in the first two months and then in three more months.

In this case, there was only digital evidence against the accused and the court convicted the accused in the light of digital evidence. Due to the conviction on the basis of digital evidence, this case is being considered as a great success of conviction on the basis of digital evidence in Pakistan.

During the case, the victim boy and girl had also identified the accused and recorded a statement before the magistrate. However, on January 11, the victims deviated from their statements and refused to identify the culprits.