ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday awarded one-year imprisonment and Rs50,000 fine each to an OSD judge from the lower judiciary Raja Khurram Ali Khan and his wife Maheen Zafar in the Tayyaba torture case.
The sentence was awarded under Section 328-A of PPC [Pakistan Penal Code] for the ill-treatment meted to the child, but the court rejected the charges related to torture and causing disappearance of Tayyaba.
After the sentencing, both the husband and wife got bails against Rs50,000 surety bonds in a couple of hours, contending before the IHC that they wanted to challenge the order before the Supreme Court.
To avoid arrest, they remained inside the court and when the IHC bench took up their bail pleas, the lawyers, including the Islamabad High Court Bar Association president and general secretary, packed the courtroom. This case is one of the rarest cases that were tried at a high court. Islamabad Advocate General Islamabad Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, talking to this correspondent, said the only other case was of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as per his recollection.
IHC’s Justice Aamer Farooq issued the judgment after conducting trial at the Supreme Court’s directions. In the judgment, it is said the evidence clearly shows that that the accused neglected and/ or wilfully harmed and abandoned Tayyaba, which resulted in harm to her or had the potential of causing harm, hence have committed the offence and the prosecution has proved the same beyond the shadow of doubt.
It further says the accused have admitted that Tayyaba was working as maid at their house, thus was in their care. Raja Khurram, being the family head, and Maheen Zafar, being responsible for the daily domestic affairs, were jointly responsible for looking after and taking care of the child. The version of the accused that the media hype was created over the incident and hence the FIR is inconsequential has no bearing on the facts leading to the commission of the offence.
The IHC order says under Section 328-A of PPC, whoever wilfully assaults, ill-treats, neglects, abandons or does an act of omission or commission, that results in or has the potential to harm or injure the child by causing physical or psychological injury to him shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than one year and may extend up to three years, or with fine which shall not be less than twenty five thousand rupees and may extend up to fifty thousand rupees, or with both.
“In view of above, the prosecution has been able to prove the charge under Section 328-A PPC, hence the accused persons Maheen Zafar and Raja Khurram Ali Khan both are jointly responsible for it and are accordingly convicted,” the court order reads.
State as a complainant in this case had adopted before the court that the accused employed Tayyaba aged less than 10 years as a maid and used to hit her because of which she sustained injuries and also used to lock her in store room near water tank.
The prosecution produced 16 witnesses in this matter. The advocate general, appearing before the court, had contended that the statements of Tayyaba and the prosecution witnesses clearly established that the accused used to beat her up, abandoned her by failing to take care of her by providing food and proper clothing. It was further contended that the medical report fully corroborate the ocular account that Tayyaba received injuries, he added.
The advocate general submitted that the defence had failed to cast doubt on the case of the prosecution which was un-impeached and the accused persons were guilty of all the offences with which they had been charged.