HARIPUR: An additional session’s judge on Monday convicted a man for sexually assaulting a minor family member here and handed down 15 years imprisonment and Rs1 million fine to him.

According to the prosecution, Sohail Ahmad, a 35-year-old resident of Gulu Bandi village in Hattar area, had sexually assaulted a nine-years-old girl, his cousin, in Aug 2021.

The police records showed that the suspect was booked under Section 377-B of the Child Protection and Welfare Act for the offence on the complaint of the girl’s father.

The suspect was later taken into custody.

Additional sessions Judge IV Asghar Ali heard counsel for both petitioners and respondents and examined evidence produced before him and convicted Sohail Ahmad for the sexual offence.

The girl’s lawyer, Gulnaz Rasheed, told reporters that the convict was her client’s cousin, so his family pressured the family of the assault victim through local jirgas for an out-of-court settlement, but the latter refused to forgive him.

Source: Dawn