KARACHI: A court sentenced a man to a total of nine years in prison for sharing obscene images of his estranged wife on WhatsApp.

Judicial Magistrate (East) Yusra Ashfaq found Syed Faizan guilty of the offences under Sections 20 (dignity of natural person), 21 (modesty of natural person and minor), 24 (cyberstalking) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and awarded him three-year imprisonment on each count.

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The court also imposed a fine of Rs90,000, and on default the convict would have to undergo an additional three-month imprisonment.

“This action [of the accused] aimed at shaming and blackmailing the victim and her family, underscores the accused’s intent to exert psychological pressure and manipulate the victim, especially during a vulnerable period in her life when she was battling cancer,” the court observed.

Court notes evidence suggested a pattern of control, exploitation and intimidation of the convict’s estranged wife

It added that the impact on the victim and her family had been profound, causing emotional distress, reputational damage and further deteriorating the victim’s already fragile health.

Explaining the motive of the convict behind sharing obscene material, the court observed that the evidence presented “appeared to be rooted in a pattern of control, exploitation, and intimidation directed towards the victim”.

“After their marriage, the accused consistently demanded money and misappropriated the victim’s dowry, including substantial amounts of cash and gold. Abusive behaviour intensified over time, culminating in the accused’s deliberate act of sharing explicit images of the victim with her brother,” it noted.

Assistant Director-Legal Sheraz Rajpar of the Federal Investigation Agency said that the brother of the victim lodged a complaint against his brother-in-law.

The complainant informed the FIA Cyber Crime Cell that in March 2022, he had received obscene images of his sister on his WhatsApp number sent by the accused to harm the reputation of his family and to blackmail him and his sister.

The complainant alleged that the accused had maltreated his sister after their marriage, while the accused also repeatedly demanded money from them.

Subsequently, after registration of the case, the FIA team apprehended the accused and seized his mobile phone in which obscene material was found.

In her testimony in court, the victim stated that she got married in 2019; however, her husband’s behaviour was abusive.

She also alleged that the accused demanded a dowry, including Rs500,000 in cash and 30 tolas of gold. When she confronted him, the accused threatened her with maltreatment while she was battling cancer.

Later, in February 2022, the victim left her husband’s house and returned to her parents.

During the trial, prosecutor Rajpar argued that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing its case beyond a reasonable doubt against the accused.

He stated that no inconsistency had been found in testimonies of prosecution witnesses and that the forensic report corroborated the ocular version of the complainant and his witnesses.

He argued that the forensic report clearly showed the transmission of obscene images from the accused to the complainant (then deleted).

On the other hand, the defence counsel contended that the complainant falsely implicated his client in this case while the images in the forensic report were blurry.

However, the court rejected the defence plea and noted that the defence failed to produce evidence to support its claims.

A case was registered at the FIA Cyber Crime Wing under Sections 20 (dignity of natural person), 21 (modesty of natural person and minor), 24 (cyber stalking) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

Three new sections invoked in rape, murder case

Three new sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) relating to abduction and rape of a child, and disappearance of evidence were included by the investigation officer (IO) of the minor girl’s gang rape and murder case.

IO Shama brought two suspects before Judicial Magistrate (South) Zahid Ali, seeking their 13-day physical custody for further interrogation and to conduct their medical examination.

During the hearing, the IO informed the court that on the instruction of state prosecutor, she had included three new sections: 364 A (kidnapping or abducting a person under 14 years), 375-A (punishment for child rape) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the PPC in this case.

She further mentioned that she needed their physical custody to arrest the remaining suspect and to recover the piece of cloth used to strangle the 12-year-old girl to death.

After hearing the IO, the court extended the suspect’s police custody for five days and directed the IO to produce them at the next hearing.

According to the FIR, the complainant, the victim’s mother, informed the police that she lived near the railway station in the Cantt area. On August 24, she said, she had gone to a clinic with her two daughters, while her 12-year-old daughter remained at home. However, when the complainant returned, her daughter was missing. Later, her body was found at a garbage dump near Lucky Star.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2024