The Sindh government will be filing an appeal next week against the acquittal of a retired school teacher in a sodomy case by a Khairpur court on April 27, the provincial government’s spokesperson and Chief Minister’s Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab told Dawn.com on Saturday.

According to Wahab, the government will file an appeal upon the release of the court’s detailed judgement regarding the school teacher’s acquittal.

“He was acquitted through a short order on April 27 by additional district judge-IV. The reasoning was not yet given thus the appeal is not filed so far,” Wahab told Dawn.com, adding that he tasked Sindh’s prosecutor general for the job.

The provincial government spokesperson said the appeal would be filed before the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench. “This will certainly take a few days till we get the detailed order of the trial court,” Wahab added.

He said that the perusal of the case file showed that the victim had retracted his statement.

“But there is DNA evidence and video of the offence is also available. Even if the victim had backed out for any reason, the court should have proceeded with the case as rape is a crime against society,” Wahab added.

Separately, he tweeted that PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also following up on the issue. “There has to be some sort of judicial accountability generally and especially in such matters of crimes against society,” he added.

Photos and videos of the accused garlanded with currency notes were shared on social media while he was disbursing money among children outside the Khairpur district jail after his acquittal, shocking rights activists and eliciting a strong reaction over the development.

The accused was arrested on July 17, 2020, after a case was lodged in Khairpur.

The scandal had shocked many as the retired schoolteacher was found to be allegedly involved in committing sodomy with minor students whom he tutored at a private property.

A picture showing the teacher allegedly sodomising a minor boy was widely shared on Twitter, with residents and activists demanding immediate arrest of the accused and justice for the victims.

Two first information reports (FIR) were registered against the teacher on rape charges as well as under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, on the complaint of parents of two children who were allegedly victimised by him, at Thari Mirwah police station.

The accused had retired from a government job as a schoolteacher. He was alleged to have raped one of his pupils, filmed the ghastly act and then made it viral. He was also accused of forcing his students to commit sodomy with each other.

Reports had indicated that the teacher, a resident of village Nangar Shar in Khairpur’s Faiz Ganj taluka, was also previously charge-sheeted in some other crime as well. He also faced double murder charges that were not proven and he was moved to Thari Mirwah from Faiz Ganj in the backdrop of the charges.