Man sentenced to life for raping juvenile

Accused fined Rs 0.2m for sexually assaulting mentally challenged minor

HARIPUR:

A district and sessions court in Haripur Monday awarded life imprisonment to a man for enticing and raping a mentally challenged juvenile. Additional Sessions Judge Islam Uddin also imposed a fine of Rs0.2 million on the convict for sexually assaulting the nine-year-old.

In case of failure in paying the fine, the convict will serve an additional period of six months behind the bars, ruled the court.

Parents of the victim and the public have welcomed the court ruling.

According to the judgment, the accused named Habib-ur-Rehman alias Waqar, a resident of Darband Khalabat, Haripur, took the victim to a nearby deserted area and sexually assaulted her. He fled the scene after committing the crime.

Subsequently, the father of the girl found her in critical condition and registered an FIR at Khalabat police station. After confirmation of rape by the medical report, the Khalabat police registered a case against the accused and arrested him.

During two years of hearings, 16 witnesses recorded their statements before the court. After completion of the arguments from both sides, the additional session judge found the accused guilty of the crime and awarded him life imprisonment.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2022.