SHC dismisses bail plea in child molestation case

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has dismissed the bail application of a man in a child molestation case. The applicant, Nazar Hussain, was arrested by the Zaman Town police for molesting a seven-year-old boy in the Korangi area on August 9, 2023.

A counsel for the applicant submitted that he was innocent and had been falsely implicated in this case as the complainant of the case had recorded his no objection before the trial court.

He submitted that the trial court refused to grant bail despite no objection filed by the complainant, and sought bail in the case.

An additional prosecutor general opposed the grant of bail on the ground that the applicant was the single accused nominated in the FIR for committing sodomy with a minor boy of seven years of age and medical evidence was corroborative with the ocular version.

He submitted that the alleged offence was against society and it came within the ambit of the prohibitory clause of the Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). A single bench of the SHC comprising Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi after hearing the arguments of the counsel observed that the applicant had been specifically nominated with the allegation that he had committed sodomy with a boy of seven years of age and the medical report was positive. The high court observed that the applicant’s counsel mainly contended that the complainant of the case had recorded no objection for the grant of bail but the trial court had not considered this aspect of the case.

The bench observed that since the alleged offence was not compoundable, therefore, no objection recorded by the complainant carried no weight, as held by the apex court in its various pronouncements on this issue. The high court dismissed the bail application of the man observing that observations made in the order were tentative in nature and would not prejudice the case of either party at the trial.