Man gets 10 years in jail for raping teenage neighbour

A sessions court has sentenced a man to 10-year imprisonment for raping a teenage girl. Imtiaz Ahmed was found guilty of assaulting his 14-year-old neighbour after taking her to Swat in April 2019.

Additional Sessions Judge (Central) Ghulam Mustafa Leghari ruled that the prosecution succeeded in proving the charge of sexual abuse against the accused, awarding ten-year imprisonment to him.

The judge ordered the convict to pay a Rs10,000 fine or undergo additional six-month imprisonment on default. The accused, who appeared on bail, was taken into custody and remanded to prison to serve out the sentence.

He was extended the benefit of Section 382-B of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), meaning the time he spent behind bars after his arrest will be counted towards his prison term. State prosecutor Hina Naz Shams contended that on April 3, 2019, Imtiaz, along with absconding accomplices, abducted the victim from her residence in Pahar Ganj, North Nazimabad, and took her to Swat where he sexually abused her.

She argued that there was sufficient evidence to link the accused with the commissioning of the offence, requesting the judge to punish him as per the law. The victim testified that she heard a knock at the door late at night, and thinking it was her brother, she opened it. She said as she opened the door, Imtiaz, who along with two unknown persons was present at the door, covered her face with a piece of cloth, causing her to become unconscious. The girl added that when she regained her senses, she found herself in Swat. She said the accused subjected her to sexual abuse and forcibly put her thump impression on the nikahnama.

She said the police later traced and brought her back to Karachi. On the other hand, the accused denied the charges stating that the victim accompanied him to Swat where she contracted marriage with him of her freewill. He said the girl deposed against him because of her family’s pressure.

Initially, an FIR was lodged at the Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan police station under sections 365-B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel for marriage etc) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s brother. However, the police added sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 109 (punishment of abetment) of PPC after investigation.