KARACHI, July 27: A sessions court on Friday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing a child.

The man, Malik Aqeel, was found guilty of killing a five-year-old boy after subjecting him to a sexual assault in May 2009 within the remit of the Korangi Industrial Area police station. However, a co-accused, who had been charged with abetting the offence, was acquitted for want of evidence.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (east) Chaudhry Waseem Iqbal also directed the convict to pay Rs100,000 as compensation to the legal heirs of the victim boy and in case of default he would have to undergo an additional six-month imprisonment.

The court also sentenced the convict to seven years in prison for subjecting the victim to a sexual assault and ordered him to pay Rs50,000 to his family and in case of non-payment the convict would suffer a further one-month imprisonment.

The court ruled that both sentences would run concurrently.

According to the verdict, the DNA report had confirmed that the accused sexually abused the boy and the report of a medico-legal officer also supported the case of the prosecution.

The witnesses deposed against the accused and despite being subjected to a cross-examination at length their evidence remained consistent on material points, it added.

The court further said that the prosecution had furnished sufficient evidence against Malik Aqeel to prove his guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt.

However, the court ruled that the case of the co-accused was on a different footing as he was only facing the charge of abetment and the only evidence against him was the statement of the main accused. But the statement of an accused could not be used against a co-accused in the absence of any corroborating piece of evidence as the prosecution had failed to produce any confidence-inspiring evidence before the court, it concluded.

According to the prosecution, the boy went out of his house on May 2, 2009 but did not return and his body was found dumped in an underground water tank of a neighbouring building the following day. The police took Aqeel into custody for interrogation since he was residing on the ground floor of the building in question and he confessed before a joint investigation team that he strangled the boy and dumped the body in the water tank after abusing him sexually, it added.

The accused alleged that he committed the offence at the behest of another man, said to be a relative of the deceased boy, the prosecution added.

A case (FIR 395/2009) was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 377(unnatural offences), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint of the deceased’s father at the Korangi Industrial Area police station.

Jail authorities produced the accused in court on Friday and following the pronouncement of the judgment he was remanded back to the prison along with conviction warrants to serve out the remainder of his sentence. The co-accused was on bail.

The court also extended the benefit of Section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the criminal procedure code to the convict.