KARACHI: A sessions court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment in a case of rape of a 12-year-old girl.
The court found Syed Muhammad Ali Abdi, alias Mobi, guilty of subjecting his minor neighbour to a sexual assault in Gulbahar in October last year.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Mirza Tauseef Ahmed also imposed a fine of Rs1,000,000 on the convict and in case of default he would undergo further one-year imprisonment.
The court in its order observed that the victim’s statement recorded by a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC) during the investigation stage cannot be ignored or discarded merely on the ground that the victim and her mother were not examined before the trial court.
It also noted that the victim in her 164 CrPC statement has fully supported the case of the prosecution which has been corroborated through medical evidence of the female medico-legal officer (MLO) as she had confirmed sexual violence.
The court further said that the prosecution could not examine the victim during the trial due to her shifting to an unknown place and instead relied upon her statement recorded by the magistrate while referring to Section 265-J CrPC.
It noted that the victim could not be traced or produced during trial as was evident from the record that her mother, also complainant in the case, shifted from the given address, her cell phone number was not reachable and she (mother) did not appear despite blocking of her computerised national identity card.
Referring to a judgement of the Federal Shariat Court, the order observed that in the circumstances, her prior judicial statement, recorded under oath and in the presence of the accused, assumed enhanced evidentiary value and cannot be discarded merely due to her absence.
The trial court said, “Thus, in view of the above legal and factual position, I am of the humble opinion that there is no cavil; rather, it appears mandatory to rely upon the statement under Section 164 CrPC dated 08.10.2024 of the victim as substantive evidence.
A perusal of the memorandum of the statement of the victim also showed that the victim had recorded her statement in front of the accused and in presence of his counsel and despite affording of an opportunity of cross-examination to the counsel for the accused, the counsel opted to conduct the same during the trial and magistrate reserved the cross-questioning for trial.
Such option taken by the counsel for the accused and allowed by magistrate is alien to the procedure of recording statement under Section 164 CrPC, it added.
The court further observed that although the DNA report did not match, but the semen could be not available due lapse of time and washing of the body parts.
“However, the absence of DNA is not fatal to the prosecution case. The medical opinion regarding sexual activity is sufficient”, it added.
According to the prosecution, the victim along with her younger sister and mother was residing in a rented house in Gulbahar and on Oct 2, she was returning from school when the accused took her to a deserted street and subjected her to rape and sexual violence.
Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2025.