Court says victim suffered miscarriage but police failed to add non-bailable section to case

A court on Saturday sent a security guard who allegedly beat up a pregnant woman in Gulistan-e-Jauhar to prison on judicial remand until August 24.

Daud, along with Abdul Nasir, Adil Khan and Mehmood Khalil, members of the union of a residential project, were booked for physically assaulting Sana Akram over a trivia within the jurisdiction of the Sharea Faisal police station on August 8.

The guard was arrested after CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media, prompting Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to issue directives for his arrest. The three other suspects have obtained interim bail from a sessions court to avoid their arrest in the case.

The FIR was lodged under sections 337 (Shajjah), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of the victim.

The investigating officer produced the detained suspect before Judicial Magistrate-VI (East) Durre Shahwar Junejo on the completion of his physical remand and informed her that his custody was no longer required for interrogation and therefore he be sent to prison on judicial remand.

The magistrate sent the suspect to prison and directed the IO to submit the investigation report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) by the next date of hearing slated for August 24.

She observed that the FIR and the statement of the victim revealed that she was pregnant and suffered miscarriage as a result of torture inflicted on her. She added that such an act of the accused amounts to the offence under Section 338 (punishment of Isqat-i-Hamal) of the PPC, which is a non-bailable crime, but the police failed to incorporate the section in the case and added only bailable offences.

On the other hand, the IO, when contacted, said he was awaiting a medical report to confirm if she miscarried.

According to content of the FIR, the woman said she was a resident of Bin Qasim Town and worked as a housemaid at a flat in the building where her son, Sohail, had arrived on August 5 to give her food items, but he was stopped by some union members of the building.

She added that as she protested over her son not being allowed to enter the building, one of the union members, Adil, misbehaved with her and directed security guard Daud to deal with her, after which he hit her. She said she was six months pregnant and fell unconscious after she was manhandled by the security guard.