A sessions court has sentenced a man to ten years in jail for raping a woman. The man was found guilty of assaulting the woman after luring her to a guest house in DHA in November 2024 on the pretext of introducing her to his parents, having promised to marry her.
Additional Sessions Judge (South) Abdul Zahoor observed that after perusing entire evidence on record, including testimonies of all prosecution witnesses, documentary evidence, the DNA report, the final medico-legal certificate and the statement of the accused, he was of the view that prosecution successfully proved its case against the accused beyond any shadow of a reasonable doubt.
He sentenced the convict to ten years of rigorous imprisonment and a Rs50,000 fine for offence of rape. “What makes this case particularly grave is the position of trust that the accused occupied: he cultivated a love affair with the victim, won her confidence and secured her family’s approval on the false promise of marriage,” the judge noted.
“Exploiting that emotional bond and the trust reposed in him, he lured her to a secluded location under false pretenses and then committed a brutal act of sexual violence. Such a betrayal of trust in a romantic relationship, where the victim had every reason to believe she was in the company of her future husband, aggravates the offense and strips the accused of any claim to leniency.”
According to state prosecutor Irfana Qadri, the accused subjected the woman to rape at a guest house in Phase-VI, DHA on November 27, 2024. The woman testified that she and the accused shared a close friendship that gradually deepened into a love affair, during which the accused made a solemn promise to marry her, a fact known to her family, who had accordingly given their consent to the proposed match. On November 27, the accused enticed her to a place he falsely represented as his family home but which turned out to be a guest house, she said, adding that upon her arrival, instead of introducing her to his parents or relatives as promised, the accused snatched her mobile phone, physically assaulted her and then, wielding a knife (churri), forcibly raped her.
In his statement, the accused denied the charges, claiming that he had been falsely implicated in the present case due to refusal of marriage. The defence counsel contended that the woman was a highly inconsistent witness as her testimony was full of contradictions and improvements. He claimed that the woman was a “consenting party and when the accused refused to marry her, she lodged this false FIR” with the motive to force the accused into marriage with a heavy Haq Mahar of Rs5 million.
In its order, the judge noted, “The statement of the accused under section 342 [of] Cr.P.C. is significant. He admitted that he had a relationship with the complainant, that marriage was under consideration and that they met on the relevant night.”
“He further admitted that he broke off the relationship on suspicion that the complainant had relations with other men. However, he failed to produce any material whatsoever to substantiate such allegation.”
