Court dismisses bail plea for 14-year-old rape suspect

Counsel says that rape survivor and family have no objection to suspect’s bail .

KARACHI: A district and sessions court dismissed the bail plea of a suspect accused of raping a 13-year-old girl, even after the rape survivor and her brother submitted affidavits of no objection in the court on Wednesday.

The complainant, Jameel Ahmed Mehsar, and his sister, JM*, stated that they have settled the issue outside the court and they had no objection if the suspect was granted bail or acquitted in the case. The district and sessions judge, Malir, Muhammad Yamin, however, dismissed the bail as the offence was non-compoundable.

JM told the police in her statement under section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code that 14-year-old A*, a barber by profession, came to her house around midnight on March 13, 2013, and asked about her brother who was not at home at that time.

“He put a hand on my mouth and took me to the street where two of his accomplices were already waiting. They took me to an abandoned location and left after raping me,” she told the police.

A case, No. 144/13, under Section 376 (ii) (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered on the complaint of the JM’s brother against the suspect and his accomplices. A has been put in the juvenile jail while his partners are reportedly on the run.



The suspect also confessed to his involvement in the case during the course of interrogation. A told the police that he along with his accomplices, W and M, kidnapped the girl, raped her and abandoned her. “I can show you the place as well,” he added.

The counsel for defence stated that A may be granted bail because ‘the complainant as well as the alleged rape survivor have compromised with the accused due to the intervention of elders and filed affidavits of no objection in favour of accused.’ The counsel also contended that the suspect was a minor and entitled for bail.

The state counsel, however, opposed the bail application saying that the crime was of serious nature. “Only age is not grounds for grant of bail if the crime is a heinous one,” he stated in the court. “The crime rate will increase if people keep patching up like this.”

The judge dismissed the application and directed the investigating officer to submit a charge sheet in the case. The suspects will be charged formally once the charge sheet is submitted in the court.

Compoundable and non-compoundable

Compoundable offences are those offences where the complainant enters into a compromise and agrees to drop charges against the accused. Offences of grave nature, however, cannot be compounded and can be only quashed by the court.

*Names changed to protect privacy of individuals

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2013.