INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
IHC extends jail term of suspended judge, wife in Tayyaba torture caseISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has
ordered a three-year extension in jail term of a suspended judge and his wife who were found guilty of torturing their child maid.The ruling
came out following an order by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on June 4 where he urged the IHC to settle on the appeals filed by suspended
Additional and Sessions Judge Raja Khurram Ali Khan and his wife Maheen Zafar, who had sought to overturn their sentence that sent them one
year behind the bars for torturing their underage maid Tayyaba
The appeal of the convicts was dismissed by a division bench consisting of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb who
instead extended their jail time to three years and imposed a fine of Rs0.5 million as well
A 46-page judgment was released by the bench regarding the case
The statement had read: "Keeping in view the above principles and law and the facts and circumstances of the instant case, we are satisfied
that there is no mitigating factor which would call for handing down the lesser sentence
The appellants are not worthy of any sympathy because the ill treatment and neglect was willful and cannot be justified on any ground
They were aware and they deliberately and consciously made an innocent and helpless child to suffer tremendously."It went on to add, "While
parting we cannot restrain ourselves from recording our observations regarding the failure of the criminal justice system in protecting the
most weak and vulnerable members of the society."The judgment had also read that the concerned police station's in-charge Khalid Mehmood
Awan had not complied with the orders of "putting the legal process into motion" after he was informed about Tayyaba's case."The Inspector
General of Police, Islamabad Capital Territory is, therefore, expected to probe the role of Khalid Mehmood Awan, PW16, particularly
regarding the making of the video placed on record as Ex DA
The Inspector General is also expected to take urgent and appropriate measures to ensure that professional officers, specially trained to
deal with victims who are children, are entrusted with cases relating to them," it stated."If rule of law is to prevail and the criminal
justice system is to be made responsive to the weak and against alleged offences committed by the stronger and privileged segments of the
society then even the slightest dereliction of duty by officials inevitably has to be dealt with sternly," it further added.The one-year
sentence to the convicts was previously announced on June 16th by IHC Justice Aamer Farooq, for inflicting abuse on Tayyaba under Section
328-A (cruelty to a child).The convicted couple was also fined Rs50,000 each for the felony of employing a child below the age of 12
The two had, however received bail soon after the declaration of the judgment
Later on April 23rd justices Azharmanullah and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb comprised two-member bench dismissed their sentences.Ten-year-old
domestic helper Tayyaba was recovered on December 29th 2016 from the residence of the judge following complaints filed by neighbors of
torture.Consequently, the judge and his wife had an FIR filed against them at the I-9 police station.Reports by the police suggested that
the wife was found guilty of inflicting torture whereas the judge was found responsible for criminal negligence
Soon after, the offenders were forgiven by Tayyaba's parents as a compromise on January third 2017.The CJP however took suo moto notice of
the negotiation accord and demanded another trial to be carried out by IHC of the case
After the incident, the judge was given suspension and was made an officer on special duty (OSD) by IHC.The case was inclusive of a total
number of 19 witnesses out of which 11 were from civil servants and eight of private witnesses which also included parents of the victim.
