A local court in Bahawalpur has handed down a sentence of 20 years rigorous imprisonment and a one million rupees fine to a madrassa teacher for the attempted rape of a 10-year-old girl student.
The verdict was announced by Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Ashiq on Wednesday, and the incident happened in 2023 at Sohanra Arian village.
Dawn reports that the prosecution lawyer told the court that the 10-year-old daughter of complainant Malik Usman used to go to Qari Abdul Aziz (60) to learn the Holy Quran. However, on February 26 last year, when she did not return home from the madrassah, Malik Usman, along with some others, set out to search for her and upon entering the teacher’s room (at the madrassah), they found him sexually abusing the girl.
The victim also told her father that the teacher had been abusing her sexually for some time.
The father then registered an FIR against the teacher under section 377-B which pertains to offence of sexual abuse in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC)
The accused was then arrested.
The court ordered that in case of default on payment of the fine, the convict will have to under go an additional imprisonment of six months.
