Bail plea of accused in teenage girl’s kidnapping, rape case dismissed

A sessions court has dismissed an application of an accused seeking post-arrest bail for a third time in a case pertaining to the kidnapping and rape of a teenage girl.

Sanwal and Ghulam Abbas have been charged with the abduction and sexual abuse of a 17-year-old girl within the jurisdiction of the Defence police station in June last year. Additional District and Sessions Judge Ashraf Hussain Khowaja dismissed the bail plea filed by Ghulam Abbas, observing that the accused failed to provide fresh ground in order to make out a case for his bail in the case.

The defence counsel contended that this was the third bail application filed by his client on fresh grounds following the recording of the statement of the victim. He said that as per the recovery memo, the victim was called by the accused through phone, and upon her arrival, police took her into custody, but she deposed that at the time of her recovery, the accused was with her.

He also submitted that the victim altered her statement by mentioning a pistol, adding that her statement was full of contradictions with DNA and chemical reports yielding negative results.

The complainant’s lawyer Bahzad Akbar Gabol argued that due to the lapse of time, the DNA test could not be conducted, but the victim’s medical examination certificate showed signs of sexual abuse. He stated that during her examination, some part of a dead fetus, which was removed through DNC, confirming that the accused had raped her.

He said some immaterial contradictions would not make the whole case doubtful, and in her statement, the girl fully implicated all the accused, requesting the judge to dismiss the bail application.

According to the prosecution, on June 27, 2022, the girl, aged 17-18 years, was feeling unwell and left her home for a hospital for a check-up but didn’t return. Her mother lodged a complaint with the Defence police, stating that unidentified person(s) enticed her daughter with the intention of kidnapping.

On October 30, Sanwal was apprehended, and the teenage girl was successfully recovered from his custody, the prosecution mentioned, adding that in her statement, she accused Sanwal, Ghulam Abbas, and Salman of subjecting her to sexual abuse.