Man sentenced to death for raping teenage daughter

LAHORE: A man on Friday was found guilty of raping his teenage daughter and was subsequently sentenced to death.

In the detailed judgment, Additional District and Sessions Judge Mian Shahid Javed observed, “A father is always considered a natural guardian and protector of his children, and if a daughter is teased by someone outside the house, she complains against him before her father while considering her father as her guardian but in the instant proposition, the real father, by committing incest, has destroyed the personality, soul, as well as the body of his real minor daughter.”

The judge further noted, “The minor has suffered psychological disaster,” following the prosecution’s presentation of compelling and credible evidence throughout the legal proceedings.

The nature of the offense committed by the defendant was deemed shocking and egregious, causing a disturbance in public consciousness and eroding the fabric of society, as per the judge’s observations.

The judgment found no mitigating circumstances but rather identified aggravating factors, leading to the conviction of the accused under Section 376(3) of the Pakistan Penal Code, pertaining to rape, and the imposition of the death penalty.

The judge ordered that the defendant be executed by hanging until death. Additionally, the convict was directed to pay a fine of Rs1 million as compensation under Section 544-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to the survivor. The court specified that this amount should be collected as arrears of land revenue. In the event of non-payment of the compensation, the convict is to be incarcerated for six months.