Supreme Court converts rape case to consensual adultery with reduced sentence
Pakistan
Supreme Court converts rape conviction into consensual adultery, cuts sentence to five years, reduces fine, and cites delayed FIR, lack of coercion evidence, and major procedural flaws.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Supreme Court has converted a rape conviction into a case of consensual adultery, reducing the accused’s sentence from 20 years’ imprisonment to five years of rigorous imprisonment.
Justice Malik Shahzad Khan issued a detailed six-page verdict, while Justice Salahuddin Panhwar recorded a dissenting opinion. The court also reduced the fine imposed on the accused from Rs500,000 to Rs10,000. In case of failure to pay the fine, the convict will have to undergo an additional two months in jail.
According to the verdict, the case did not qualify as rape but rather consensual adultery. The court observed that in cases of consensual adultery, the complainant is also legally liable to punishment. It further noted that the complainant was neither challaned nor given an opportunity of defence during the trial, adding that punishment cannot be awarded at the appellate stage without proper hearing.
The judgment stated that, as per the FIR, the complainant went to a forest at around 5:30am to relieve herself, where the accused allegedly assaulted her at gunpoint. However, the FIR was lodged nearly seven months after the alleged incident.
The court questioned how the accused knew the complainant would arrive at the specific place and time, noting that the prosecution failed to clarify this point. It observed that the complainant did not resist during the incident, while the medical report showed no signs of violence or injury. The victim’s clothes were neither produced as evidence nor proven to be torn.
The verdict further noted that the incident allegedly occurred near a residential area, yet no noise was raised and no one was called for help. The complainant also did not approach authorities or inform her family for seven months after the incident.
The Supreme Court refrained from giving a final ruling on the DNA report, stating that the credibility of DNA evidence would be determined in a separate case. It pointed out that the DNA test was conducted one and a half years after sample collection, whereas medical research indicates reliable DNA results are usually obtained within two weeks.
Concluding the verdict, the court held that sexual relations were established through the complainant’s statement and medical evidence, but the element of force or coercion could not be proven. Therefore, the conviction for rape was set aside and replaced with a lesser offence of consensual adultery.
