Molestation: Charge against boy dropped

The judge asked questions; what the girl's name was, if she knew where she was and why, but she could not answer.

LAHORE:

A 13-year-old boy was acquitted from a molestation charge after it was ruled that the three-year-old victim was too young to make a statement and when the main prosecution witness admitted that he had not seen the alleged offence.

The alleged victim’s mother had brought her to the court but the child was unable to answer the judge’s questions.

The girl sat on her mother’s lap and appeared indifferent to the judge’s questions.

The judge asked several questions; what her name was, if she knew where she was and why. She also could not answer questions about the alleged incident and did not respond when she was asked if she could identify the accused. Shahdara police had registered the case and charge were framed on the accused him on March 15. The victim’s father had told the court that on December 13, 2013 he was standing on the street outside his house and had heard his daughter’s screams. He said he had caught the accused red-handed. He said he beat the boy until his brother-in-law intervened and helped the boy flee. He said the child was taken to Services Hospital and a complaint was registered with Shahdara police.

Later, during cross examination, he admitted that he had not been present and had not witnessed the incident. He, however, denied the assertion that that he had made an out-of-court settlement.

The other two witnesses, Muhammad Anwar and Muhammad Tufail, also withdrew their statements. Later, an application by the defense counsel said the main witness was not supporting the prosecution’s claims and the victim was too young to make a statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2014.