LAHORE: A four month imprisonment sentence was passed by the country’s first juvenile court in Lahore on Tuesday, a local media outlet reported.
The teenager was handed the sentence of imprisonment and a fine of Rs500,000 on charges of attempted rape.
A complaint had been registered with police by a resident of Sabzazar in 2016 accusing the 15-year-old of attempting to rape his daughter, who was seven-years-old at the time. Pakistan’s first juvenile court was entrusted with the case on January 20.
Former chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and a current Supreme Court judge, Mansoor Ali Shah established the court in Lahore in December, 2017.
Presiding Judge of the juvenile court, Muhammad Akhtar Bhangoo proclaimed the teenage boy guilty of sexually explicit conduct with the victim and thereby punishable under Section 377-B of PPC (Pakistan Penal Code). The judge also remarked that the 15-year-old had all the rights enshrined in the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000.
“He is a first time offender and a child, and has a future ahead of him, therefore, in view of all attending circumstances and while relying upon prosecution evidence, this court sentences the accused under Section 377-B of PPC with simple imprisonment of up to four months only and with a fine of Rs500,000,” he said. If the perpetrator failed to submit the fine, he would have to serve another one month in prison.
Borstal Institution/Juvenile Jail in-charge has been directed to present the convict before the court two months after the conviction to see what further measures could be taken.
The Borstal Institution in-charge would also have to provide a detailed assessment on the physical, emotional, intellectual, religious, educational and social development of the convict during that period.
