Karachi van driver sentenced to 14 years in jail for molesting schoolgirl

A sessions court has awarded a 14-year jail term to a school van driver for molesting a minor girl.

The convict, Owais Khan, was found guilty of abusing a seven-year-old girl while she was alone in the vehicle during pick and drop duty.

Additional Sessions Judge (Central) Mirza Tauseef Ahmed ruled that the offence fell within the definition of sexual abuse under Section 377-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and was punishable under Section 377-B. The court also ordered the convict to pay a fine of Rs1 million or undergo additional imprisonment on default.

The judge observed that the statement of the victim sufficiently established the charges. He noted that the acts described by the child amounted to “fondling, stroking, caressing and sexually explicit acts.”

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He further remarked that in offences of this nature, the law recognised that the sole statement of the victim could be sufficient for conviction if found to be credible.

“Furthermore, the children usually speak truth, therefore, it cannot be said that minor has implicated the accused falsely at behest of any other person,” the judge stated in his order.

He noted that the victim was a child of only seven years and thus she was in a vulnerable position in front of the accused.

"The children are otherwise weak segment of our society and thus, they have to be protected in accordance with law against all the evil acts and the culprits are to be given exemplary punishment so that the children may feel themselves saved," it said.