Cleric Jailed for Assaulting Minor Boy

7-12-2021

Emma Barnhoorn

Pakistan and Human Rights Researcher,

Global Human RIghts Defence.

In Peshawar, Pakistan a child protection court sentenced a cleric to 10 years rigorous imprisonment including a fine of Rs1 million for assaulting a minor boy. The incident happened earlier this year.

The Peshawar Inqilab police station had registered a FIR (First Information Report) on the 16th of March 2021. The Report was filed under section 53 (child sexual abuse) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act [1] and section 377 (unnatural sexual offence) of the Pakistan Penal Code [2] for the sexual assault of the boy at a seminary.

In case of default on payment of the fine, the convict will spend one additional year in prison. According to the state prosecutor, the accused was directly charged in the FIR and the evidence provided proved his involvement in the offence, as well as the testimony of the prosecution witness (Dawn, 2021).

Notes:

[1]: for the full text of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act, please follow this link: https://kp.gov.pk/uploads/2016/02/2._Child_Protection_and_Welfare_Act,_2010_.pdf. 

[2]: for the full text of the Pakistan Penal Code, please follow this link: http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/1860/actXLVof1860.html. 

Sources and further readings:

Dawn (2021, December 7) “Cleric jailed for assaulting minor boy in Peshawar” https://www.dawn.com/news/1662376.