Court dismisses suspect’s bail plea in sexual abuse case

A sessions court has dismissed the bail application of a man in a case pertaining to sexual abuse of a minor girl.

Muhammad Adnan was booked for allegedly assaulting his 10-year-old cousin at her house within the remit of the Gulberg police station last month.

He moved an application before an additional sessions judge (Central) seeking confirmation of his interim pre-arrest bail granted to him on October 30.

After hearing the prosecutor and defence counsel, the judge announced his order. He observed that the name and specific role of the accused was apparently mentioned in the FIR. He said the medical report of the victim whose age was just 10 years was also supporting the contents of the FIR that she was subjected to sexual abuse.

He noted that the victim had also fully described the shameful act of the accused in her statement recorded under the Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), adding that no enmity with the victim or the complainant had been alleged to falsely implicate the accused and therefore, no case was made out for confirmation of bail.

The judge said that the offence was heinous and fell within the prohibitory clause of the Section 497(1) of the CrPC. About the defence side's argument regarding delay in lodging the FIR, he said the complainant had clearly mentioned in the FIR that due to fear of her husband and mother-in-law and honour of her daughter, she kept mum.

"In view of above circumstances, I am of the humble view that the applicant/accused is not entitled for concession of bail, therefore, the instant bail application is hereby dismissed and ad-interim order dated October 30, 2024 is recalled," ruled the judge.

According to state prosecutor Hina Naz Shams, the victim was sleeping in a room with her grandmother and cousin Adnan on the night of October 10. At around 2:30 am, her mother entered the room and found her frightened and without trousers.

Upon inquiry, the girl disclosed the incident to her mother, who then shared it with her husband, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law. The in-laws attempted to hush up the matter as a family issue. However, the woman later reported the incident to the police on the advice of her brother and sister.

An FIR was lodged under the sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for a shorter terms) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim's mother.