LAHORE (Dunya News) – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday acquitted a man who was previously sentenced to life imprisonment in a rape case, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The decision was issued by Justice Abhar Gul Khan, who accepted the defendant’s appeal, referencing quotations of American legal experts in the ruling.
According to the court's judgment, the prosecution’s claims were insufficient to establish guilt. The prosecution had alleged that in October 2016, Amanullah entered the complainant’s house and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. However, the complainant’s lawyer argued that the two had a pre-existing relationship.
In 2018, the trial court in Gujrat had convicted Amanullah, sentencing him to life imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs300,000. However, the high court found significant flaws in the evidence presented by the prosecution.
The court noted that the medical examination of the complainant was conducted 11 days after the alleged incident, and the delay was not satisfactorily explained by the medical professionals. Furthermore, the report revealed no signs of physical violence on the complainant’s body. The FIR was also filed 11 days after the alleged crime, further undermining the prosecution’s case.
Additionally, the complainant had claimed to have explicit videos of the defendant, but these were not presented during the trial. Instead, only photographs were submitted, which the complainant herself admitted did not clearly identify the person in the images.
The LHC judge's decision emphasized that in accordance with Supreme Court rulings, the defendant should be granted the benefit of the doubt.
The case was filed in 2016 at the Jalalpur Jattan police station in Gujrat.