Court orders arrest of teacher in child abuse case

Accepts plea of govt to annul the acquittal of the suspect by a trial court

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday ordered arrest and retrial of a retired teacher accused of raping dozens of children at his private tuition centre in the Thari Mirwah Town of the Khairpur district.

Sarang Shar arrested in July 2022, was acquitted by a trial court in April this year. The judicial magistrate of Khairpur Mirs had accepted the plea of conciliation between the parties. Sindh government had challenged the decision in the top court of the province.

During today's hearing, SHC annulled the decision of the trial court regarding acquittal of Shar and his arrest and retrial of the case.

SHC Justice Salahuddin Pahnwar heard the petition against the decision of the subordinate court in the case of rape of children in Khairpur. Police submitted a report in the court, which stated that Shar has eight cases of murder, grabbing of property and rape of children. Police said the complainants had reached out of court settlements with the accused and the cases were dismissed by the court.

Additional Prosecutor Salim Baroro stated that rape of minor children was an irreconcilable offence, "it cannot be reconciled."

He said that the USB containing videos of alleged child abuse, produced as evidence in the trial court, was not forensically examined. The court ordered the trial court to retry the case.

The court directed the IG Sindh to conduct a forensic examination of the USB in two months regarding the rape of children. The court ordered that if there is no reputable forensic lab in Pakistan, the analysis should be conducted from abroad. The Additional Prosecutor General stated that the USB has been lying for a long time. It can also be corrupted or tampered by now.

The court directed that the Khairpur district court nazir should immediately take USB into custody. And check the status of the USB.

Justice Panhwar while giving remarks said that it was shocking to see a teacher raping children and then getting acquitted.

The lawyers of the victims took the stand that the investigating officer is also a relative of the accused. Moreover, Shar has relatives working on important positions. The case should be transferred to another district, they said.

The court ordered to take the accused Sarang Shar into custody. The court annulled the decision of the trial court. The police arrested Sarang Shar from outside the courtroom.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2023.