KARACHI: A sessions court has sentenced two men to life imprisonment in a kidnap and rape case Additional District and Sessions Judge Abdul Zahoor Chandio, who is also the presiding officer of the Gender-Based Violence Court (South), found Muhammad Arif alias Tunga and Shahbaz alias Chabba guilty and sentenced them on two counts: life imprisonment for committing rape and additional years of jail for kidnapping.
However, both the sentences would run concurrently, the court ruled and directed the convicts to pay total Rs100,000 each as fine.
According to state prosecutor Irfana Qadri and the complainant’s counsel, Bahzad Akbar, the 15-year-old survivor testified before the court that on the night of the incident, he had left his home to buy food from a nearby shop in the Mehmoodabad area. Meanwhile, the two men stopped their vehicle, forcibly pulled him inside, placed a knife to his neck and threatened to kill him if he resisted. Then, the convicts sexually assaulted him.
The victim added that when the vehicle reached a petrol pump near Mehran Town, he jumped out of it and took a rickshaw, which dropped him near Baloch Colony Bridge, where he met his father.
In his arguments, counsel Bahzad contended that the survivor was a minor and a victim of sexual violence and the offence stood proven through direct ocular account corroborated by medical findings.
He maintained that after the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2021, the sexual assault with a male falls within the legal definition of rape and where more than one offender participates, the act constitutes gang rape and therefore the charge includes section 377 (rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
On the other hand, defence counsel claimed innocence and pointed out the delay in lodging the case. However, the court rejected the contentions and noted that “the delay in lodging the FIR has been adequately explained by the trauma suffered by the victim and his family. It is well recognised that victims of sexual assault and their families often require time to process the horror of what has occurred before they can approach the authorities. The victim’s mother testified that due to trauma of my son so also us, we could not report the incident to police at 15. This explanation is plausible and human and does not justify drawing an adverse inference against the prosecution.”
Regarding the contention that no independent witness was included by the prosecution, the court observed that in cases of this nature, it is often difficult to find independent witnesses willing to come forward.
Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2026.
