Man awarded 10 years in jail for rape

A sessions court has sentenced a man to 10-year imprisonment for raping his friend. Amir Ayub was found guilty of assaulting the woman at his house in FC Area in May 2019.

Additional Sessions Judge (Central) Ghulam Mustafa Leghari observed that the prosecution had successfully proved the charge against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt. He said the testimony of the victim, supported by medical evidence, including DNA report of a baby born to her after the assault, corroborated the prosecution’s case.

“I am of humble view that the evidence of the victim is fully supported by MLC [medico-legal certificate] as well as DNA report which are sufficient to prove the case against the accused for rape,” the judge noted, adding that as per the DNA report, Ayub was the biological father of the baby. The judge awarded 10-year imprisonment to the convict for offence of rape and also ordered him to pay a Rs25,000 fine or else he would have to undergo an additional two-month imprisonment. The accused, who turned up on bail, was taken into custody and remanded to prison to serve out the sentence.

State Prosecutor Hina Naz Shams contended that the accused, who had been friends with the victim for seven years, sexually assaulted the woman at his residence on May 6, 2019. She said the accused also took photos and video of the victim and threatened to release them if she spoke out. The prosecutor contended that oral as well as medical evidence linked the accused with the commission of the offence and requested the court to punish him as per the law.

During the trial, the victim testified that she and the accused became friends over phone in 2012 after she went to attend a marriage ceremony of her cousin who lived in his neighbourhood. During their seven-year long friendship, they would visit each other's homes, and he even proposed marriage, she said.

Recounting her ordeal, the woman said that on May 6, 2019, the accused picked her up from a beauty parlour where she worked and took her on his motorcycle to his empty house, where he threatened her with a pistol, recorded her indecent video and raped her. The victim said her medical examinations revealed that she became pregnant as a result of the assault, and she gave birth to a male child on January 27, 2020.