ISLAMABAD: A local court in Pakistan’s Karachi city has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for raping his 18-year-old daughter, according to court documents seen by Arab News on Tuesday.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Naseer Noor Khan, who is also the presiding officer of a Gender Based Violence Court in Karachi, found Muhammad Irfan, 52, guilty of raping his daughter under Section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with the offense.
As per a copy of the court’s judgment dated Dec. 22 seen by Arab News, the first information report states that the offense was committed in September 2023. The victim testified that after using a washroom on the ground floor of her house in Karachi’s Qur’angi area, her father pulled her into a room and raped her. He subsequently threatened to kill his daughter and divorce her mother if she disclosed the crime to anyone.
As per the court order, the victim told her maternal aunt about the incident, who in turn informed the victim’s mother who filed a police complaint against Irfan. Irfan pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed his wife and in-laws had falsely accused him of raping his daughter to usurp his property.
“It cannot be accepted that a mother would think to involve her real daughter for falsely implicating her husband just to usurp his property,” the court document read. “Therefore, the plea of false implication for usurping property of the accused; does not sound reasonable and believable.”
The judgment said the rape victim was examined by a woman medico-legal officer three months after the incident, adding that no evidence to corroborate the crime was found as a result.
The judge, however, noted that DNA profiling and medical examination results are only corroborative evidence and that the crime in such cases is already established based on the victim’s testimony if it inspires confidence.
The verdict said the rape victim was subjected to lengthy cross examination by the defense counsel but she remained “consistent and confident regarding her evidence,” noting that the defense could not put any “material dent into her confidence.”
The judgment also noted that evidence by the investigating officers, other prosecution witnesses and the mother’s statement corroborated the victim’s testimony regarding the incident.
In addition to the 10-year jail sentence, Irfan was fined $358 by the judge. If unpaid, he will face an additional six months of imprisonment, the court order stated. The judge ordered that any fine that is paid should be given to the victim as compensation under the Anti-Rape (Investigation & Trial) Act, 2021.
