The Sindh High Court (SHC) has recently dismissed the bail application of a man implicated in a rape case and recalled his interim pre-arrest bail.
Mohammad Farman Qureshi was booked by the Shah Faisal Colony police for allegedly raping a girl and blackmailing her by making her video. According to the prosecution, the complainant’s daughter had visited the applicant’s shop to have her clothes stitched but the applicant allegedly took her cell phone, called her to his residence, administered intoxicating substances and raped her.
The prosecution alleged that the applicant recorded a video of the assault. He also promised to marry her, but later used the video to blackmail her, continuing to sexually assault her at various locations and on multiple occasions from 2022 until June 2024.
A counsel for the applicant submitted that he had been falsely implicated in the case with malicious intent and ulterior motives. The counsel submitted that the applicant and the victim had an ongoing relationship, but challenged the victim’s character.
The applicant’s counsel argued that although the accused had contacts with the victim, no unlawful act had been committed. He added that the father of the victim had sent a marriage proposal to the applicant, however, when he rejected the proposal, the complainant filed the rape case that had no grounds.
The counsel emphasised that Section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code did not apply to the case, as no evidence of forcible conduct had been presented pointing out that there was no medical evidence linking the applicant to the alleged offence.
The counsel also pointed out the significant delay of about two years in lodging the FIR, for which he argued that the prosecution had not provided a satisfactory explanation. An additional prosecutor general and the complainant’s counsel opposed the bail application submitting that the applicant after administering substances to the victim, engaged in misconduct and recorded the incident. They said the applicant had for an extended period of time exploited the victim using the video to exert control over her.
A single bench of the SHC comprising Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani after hearing the arguments observed that the applicant’s counsel had argued that the applicant was in contact with the victim and there was a relationship between the parties.
The high court observed that it was well established that the consent taken by way of deception was called vitiated consent, which meant no consent therefore the applicant had committed an act against the will of the victim.
The SHC observed that from the material placed before the court, the allegations appeared to be specific, supported by the victim’s own account, and sufficiently corroborative at this stage to justify the denial of bail.
The high court observed that no ground for further inquiry or exceptional circumstance warranting the exercise of discretion in favour of the applicant had been made out and the applicant had failed to make out a case for bail. The SHC dismissed the bail plea and recalled his interim pre-arrest bail in the case.
Published in News Daily on 28-April-2025.