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Judgment in Kainat Soomro gang-rape case on 22nd

By Shamim Bano

Karachi: A session court reserved a judgment till December 22 in the Kainat Soomro gang rape case.

The verdict was reserved by Additional District Judge (ADJ) South, Nizar Ali Khawaja, after listening to arguments of both sides on Friday.

Tough the arguments had concluded on October 10, on the request of the counsel of the accused, the ADJ had allowed the repeat of arguments.

It is worth mentioning that Kainat, then 17, was allegedly gang raped by four persons in district Dadu on January 10, 2007, and an FIR (76/2007) was registered in the Mehr police station.

The case took various turns throughout its hearing, as many a times the accused party reposed no-confidence in the judge and requested to transfer the case to the Sindh High Court (SHC). However, the SHC transferred the case back to the ADJ South.

During the hearings, clashes also broke out between the complainant and the accused and even the ADJ was attacked by the accused party. Deputy Public Prosecutor Ghazanfer Siddiqui replaced Deputy District Public Prosecutor (DDPP) Abdul Maroof, as the latter had been threatened of dire consequences and he had requested the court to relinquish him of the responsibility.

Defence Counsel, Faisal Siddqui, supported the case based on a chemical examination which corroborated that the incident had taken place. The prosecution also established its case by producing witnesses and the medico-legal officers (MLO) along with a chemical examination report which supported the case.

Whereas glaring contradictions were also witnessed during the entire episode, as the main accused, Kaleemullah changed his statements many a times. At one time, he said that he had solemnized Nikah with Kainat at his residence in Kotri and on another occasion he said that they married of free will at Hyderabad.

The statements of the MLO along with other witnesses and evidences were also recorded in the court. The counsel of the accused, Waqar Shah, also produced a Nikahnama along with relevant certificates.

DDPP Ghazanfer Siddiqui argued that it was fully established that she was gang-raped by four persons. He prayed to the court that the suspects may be hanged to death. Four accused Shaban, Roshan, Ahsan and Kaleemullah were nominated in the FIR.
Source: The News
Date:12/19/2009