Life imprisonment and 14- years jail time were handed down to a prisoner in a case pertaining to sexually assaulting a minor girl by a special court for gender-based violence in Lahore.

On the complaint of the minor’s father, Sanda police had registered the FIR in 2021 against Imran, the brother-in-law of the complainant’s elder daughter who took his 5-year-old daughter to a shrine and sexually assaulted her there.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Kaneez Fatima Bhatti, the presiding judge of the special court, handed down rigorous life imprisonment to the accused for rape under section 376 (iii) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), besides Rs50,000 fine.

Section 376 (iii) of the PPC states, “Whoever commits rape of a minor or a person with mental or physical disability shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and fine.”

The judge also awarded a 14-year jail term for another offense of sexual abuse (in the same case) under section 377-B of the PPC and imposed a fine of Rs1 million.

Section 377-B of the PPC states, “Whoever commits the offence of sexual abuse shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years and liable to fine which shall not be less than five hundred thousand rupees or with both.”

Imran, who was on bail, was present in the court when the judge announced the guilty verdict. The judge got him arrested and ordered the police to shift him to Kot Lakhpat jail.