• A 2-member bench of LHC issued written decision on appeal.
• Court upheld decision of trial court to impose a fine of Rs 300,000.
• The benefit of doubt is given to the accused and converted sentence.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court(LHC) has converted the death sentence to life imprisonment for raping an 11-month-old girl.

A 2-member bench headed by Justice Alia Neelam of Lahore High Court issued a written decision on the appeal of the criminal. According to which the court upheld the decision of the trial court to impose a fine of Rs 300,000.

The court remarked that it is a fact that the accused molested the infant girl and added that the parents cannot stake their daughter’s honor and future to falsely accuse someone.

The court, in its remarks, further held that the prosecution having proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, it would be too harsh to sentence the appellant to death.

The court has said in its decision that the sentence can be mitigated due to the negative DNA report and the age of the offender at the time of the crime. “We believe that there are mitigating circumstances in this case. The benefit of doubt is given to the accused, so the death sentence of the accused is ordered to be converted to life imprisonment”.

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It should be noted that a case was registered against the criminal Muhammad Rafiq in Saddar Police Station Kasur in 2019.