Rapist father sentenced to death

As the Lahore Sessions Court on Friday passed a death sentence for Khalid Amin, resident of Lahore, the family digested the news with mixed feeling.
Father of six, Khalid Amin was under trial for two years after he brutally raped his own daughter ‘N’, who was 14 at the time. The incident took place on May 19, 2009, and the girl reported the incident only to one of her teachers and her aunt.
Sidra Humayun of War Against Rape (WAR) told Pakistan Today that that they had approached the rape survivor ‘N’, and had finally registered a case against her father Amin who was arrested and put under trial. After two years, in June, WAR petitioned to the Lahore High Court that the case was being unnecessarily delayed.
“The judge accepted our complaint and carried on with the trial finally awarding Amin a death sentence,” said Sidra. “It is not as if we are joyous to the point of celebrating, but such judgment is rare in Pakistan’s judicial history and it is certainly a landmark.”
The incident had taken place in the Kahna Police precincts. The WAR representative said the case had inspired the organisation to bring forth more information about the horrors of incest. “It is sickening to know that the protectors of children are sometimes themselves the offenders,” she said.
In Punjab, Aurat Foundation data released on Thursday pointed out there were 345 victims of rape/gang rape, within six months in 2011 (Jan to Jun) while two of these were cases of incest. Meanwhile last year, at least four children fell prey to abuse every day, as reported by Sahil’s data. Incest cases have still not received proper attention for a separate data accumulation process. However it is a registered fact known by workers who deal with cases of sexual abuse that in most child rape cases relatives or neighbours are involved.
Sidra said the judgment was a judicial victory. “It is not a common thing that a judge so easily believes the experience of a young girl and hands out such a severe penalty for the perpetrator,” she said. She pointed out another incident where a 17-year-old married girl was raped by her father-in-law and brother-in-law, resulting in a pregnancy. However the judge waived aside the case and acquitted the suspects despite the pregnancy. “He declared the girl was uncertain as she was accusing too many people at the same time. Eventually the rape survivor had to deliver the child too,” said Sidra recounting the incident.
“I am not sure if this will really transform the scenario, but it could be comforting to know that maybe the judiciary has changed its attitude towards rape survivors,” she says.
N’s counsel Hina Hafeezullah Ishaq, who fought the case on behalf of WAR, belongs to the Nasreen Welfare Memorial Trust a legal aid group.