KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday set aside the death sentence awarded to a man in a rape case.

An additional district and sessions court had sentenced Gulzar Shah to death last year for subjecting a 10-year-old girl to sexual assault within the jurisdiction of Docks police station in 2016.

The convict challenged the capital punishment before the SHC while the sessions judge also made a reference to the high court as required under the law for confirmation or otherwise of the death penalty.

After hearing both sides and examining the record and proceedings of the case, the two-judge bench of the SHC allowed the appeals and set aside the verdict of the trial court. The bench observed that the prosecution had failed to establish its case beyond the shadow of doubt.

The prosecution said the case was lodged on Nov 23, 2016 on the complaint of the victim’s mother who stated that her daughter was subjected to rape by the accused when the minor went to his shop in the evening.

The FIR was registered under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2019