A sessions court on 1-October-2024 sentenced a man to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his teenage daughter.
Muhammad Mukhtiar was found guilty of assaulting his 15-year-old daughter at their residence within the jurisdiction of the Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police station in May last year.
Additional Sessions Judge (Central) Ghulam Mustafa Leghari observed that the prosecution succeeded in proving its case against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt.
Noting that the victim was the real daughter of the accused, the judge said: “Sole testimony of the victim was enough for conviction if the same was trustworthy, surefooted, irrefutable and confidence-inspiring.” He said her testimony was corroborated by medical evidence as DNA samples collected from her clothes matched those of the accused.
“The statement of the victim was straight-forward and the same has narrated the entire incident in a very innocent and natural manner,” the judge said, ruling that the accused failed to prove his innocence.
According to state prosecutor Hina Naz Shams, the victim’s mother, who is the complainant in the case, stated that she had been raising her children by begging as her husband was a drunkard and had no job. On May 12, 2023, she said she left her house for begging, while her husband Mukhtiar and teenage daughter and other children were at home. Later that day, the woman said her daughter told her over phone that her father had forcibly assaulted her and that she had also filmed her ordeal as evidence.
During the trial, the complainant deposed that her husband had earlier raped their daughter when they lived in Surjani Town. She added the accused was arrested but got acquitted due to defective investigation and lack of evidence as she had also testified in his favour under pressure of in-laws, who assured that they would help her marry the victim off somewhere.
She said that her in-laws and even her two sons asked her not to testify against the accused in the present case as well.
The mother said that her husband had been engaging in immoral activities with their daughter since she was hardly five years old. She further disclosed that she had contracted love marriage with the accused, which was why she could not inform her family members because they were not happy with the marriage. She pleaded with the court to punish the accused so no one dared do any such thing with their daughter.
The victim testified that her father had a drink and then assaulted her. She said she also recorded a video of her ordeal with her brother’s mobile. She said her father would threaten to kill her if she spoke about his immoral acts to her mother.
In his statement under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused denied the prosecution allegation, claiming that the victim testified against him at the instigation of her mother.
Published in News Daily on 02-October-2024.