Child pornography convicts must get 20 years in jail: IHC

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has ordered the federal government to amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) to increase the punishment for child pornography to 20 years in jail.

The court has upheld the sentence of Shehzad Khaliq who was given 14 years in jail and ordered to pay a fine of Rs1 million.

Khaliq had filed an appeal against his sentence from a lower court. Under the PECA the punishment for child pornography is seven years, while under the Pakistan Penal Code it is 14 years. The court said that the punishment under PECA should be increased to 20 years.

It issued guidelines for conducting cases in accordance with international standards.

The 24-page judgment, written by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, said that the victim child should not be produced in court with the accused and the statement should be recorded through a video link.

The IHC said that trial courts should ensure in-camera trials of child pornography cases.

The case against the accused Shehzad Khaliq was registered on August 25, 2019 on the complaint of the father of the victim child.

According to the forensic report, 22,800 photos and 839 videos were recovered from Shehzad’s mobile phone. He is seen in most of the videos.