A sessions court has sentenced Shahbaz alias Shabi to a total of 50 years in prison for abducting and gang-raping a 15-year-old girl in 2021. 

Additional District and Sessions Judge Naseer Noor Khan, presiding over the Gender-Based Violence Court (East), found Shahbaz guilty of abducting and intoxicating the minor and raping her along with two co-accused.

The court noted that the convicts also recorded a video of the assault to blackmail the father of the victim.

Shahbaz has been sentenced to 10 years under Section 365-B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her for marriage, etc), five years under Section 337-J (causing hurt by means of poison), 20 years under Section 376 (rape), 14 years under Section 292-C (sale, etc, of obscene books), and one year for the offence under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Additionally, a fine totalling over Rs1.6 million has been imposed, with failure to pay resulting in further imprisonment.

The court addressed some minor inconsistencies in the case, stating: “Reasoning for mitigating circumstances, the court observed that there are some negligible and minor inconsistencies as the IO did not collect the cloths of the survivor. However, it added, these minor defects and inconsistencies would not be sufficient enough to discard the entire prosecution case.”

Regarding the co-accused, the court stated: “Before parting with this judgment here, it will not be out of place to mention that per evidence of first investigating officer/ SIP Ali Muraad s/o Haji Baig Ali (retired). Custody of co-accused namely Mubashir Khalil s/o Khalil Ahmed, during investigation was handed over to Hawaldaar Feroze s/o Ahmed Zaman of Pakistan Army, video memo of handing over of custody of co-accused Mubashir Khalil being Sepoy of Pakistan Army 3 Unit along with his personal search articles, dated 19-06-2021.”

“Record reflects that in this regard no any permission was obtained from this court nor from the concerned judicial magistrate. Therefore, inspector general of police, Sindh is directed to inquire into the matter and submit his detailed report before this court within one (01) month in respect of co-accused Mubashir Khalil s/o Khalil Ahmed, without fail,” the court ruled. 

The complainant told the police that her 15-year-old daughter had gone out to buy some candies on the night of July 2021, according to state prosecutor Tahira Bano. 

A fruit cart vendor named Shahbaz stopped her on the way, made up a story about her father being beaten nearby Gora graveyard, and convinced her to get on his bike with him. 

After giving her an intoxicant that left her unconscious, the accused led her to an unidentified place where he and his accomplices sexually assaulted her while recording the incident.

Later, the accused called the victim's father and threatened to upload the videos online unless he sent his daughter back.

In his statement, Shahbaz claimed that the victim’s mother owed him money, and when he asked for repayment, he was falsely implicated in the case.

The court rejected this defense, noting: “It cannot be accepted that a mother, even for a single moment, would think to involve her real daughter for falsely implicating a person just to avoid payment of some amount and knowingly leveling such allegation which is self-deprecating and that would tarnish her daughter’s and her family’s honor and dignity and put an un-washable stain/ stigma on the future life of her daughter: for such petty benefit.”

The case was registered at the Brigade police station under Sections 365-B, 337-J, 376, 292-C, and 506-B of the PPC.