SC frees man jailed for 12 years on charges of raping daughter

The Supreme Court has acquitted a man, who was awarded 12-year imprisonment on charges of raping his minor daughter, over contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence.

Justice Ali Baqar Najafi ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecution was “deficient of trustworthiness” and could not be relied upon. “The sentence and conviction of the appellant is set aside. He be released forthwith if not required in any other case,” the order said.

According to the prosecution, the man was accused in 2010 after his daughter, aged six or seven at the time, told her mother and maternal uncle that “her own father had committed rape with her.”

She reportedly went to her mother in tears, saying she was in severe pain following the “wrong act.”

The accused was subsequently arrested and later awarded life term under Section 376(1) of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with a fine of Rs35,000. The conviction was upheld by the Lahore High Court in 2013.

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The case was heard by a three-member bench that found contradictions in the testimonies.

 Justice Najafi noted that while the mother alleged the incident occurred at 2pm and that the child was examined in her presence at the hospital, the medical evidence was inconsistent.

The order pointed out that the doctor initially testified that the child was subjected to rape but later admitted during cross-examination that the chemical examiner’s report found no evidence of rape.

“These contradictions,” Justice Najafi wrote, “raise serious questions about the credibility of the victim’s statement and the possibility of false implication of the appellant.”