Peshawar High Court rejects bail pleas of two accused in sexual assault case

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PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has rejected bail pleas of two accused persons including a juvenile allegedly involved in gang rape of a teenage girl in Swat district over a month ago. A single member bench of Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal ruled: “The alleged offence relates to moral turpitude and entails capital punishment, which squarely falls within the prohibitory clause of Section 497(1) of CrPC. Therefore, the applicants-accused are not entitled to the concession of bail.” The victim, along with her father, appeared before the court and stated that they had reached a compromise with one of the petitioners and, thus, had no objection to his release on bail. In this regard, they also submitted an affidavit. However, the bench ruled that the offence was non-compoundable, besides relating to moral turpitude and being of a heinous nature, therefore, the compromise, at that stage, couldn’t be considered for the purpose of bail. Bench rules offence involves moral turpitude, entails capital punishment The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Kanju police station in Swat on July 7, 2026, under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of Pakistan Penal Code. The victim told police that she worked as domestic helper at a residence in Koza Banda area. She stated that on the eventful day, as a routine, she was returning home when at 8pm, she reached a thoroughfare, the two accused forcibly took her to a place where they sexually assaulted her, turn by turn. The bench observed that the accused had been directly charged by the victim in her initial, promptly lodged report. It observed that the victim and the accused persons were residents of the same vicinity, therefore, there was no question of mistaken identity. “The site plan, prepared at the instance of the victim, shows the presence of both the applicants on the spot at the relevant time. The statement of the victim recorded during investigation is in line with her initial report,” the bench ruled. The bench further ruled that on the face of the record, no ill will or mala fide, on the part of victim or her family to falsely implicate the petitioners could be seen. “It is now settled law that in cases of unnatural offences, the mere statement of the victim is sufficient to connect the accused with the commission of the offence, if the statement inspires confidence,” the court observed. The bench pointed out that applicants appeared to be friends inter se and, prima facie, the offence was committed by them with preplanning, after observing the return time of the victim. About the plea of juvenility put forward by one of the accused, who was around 17, the bench ruled: “According to Section 6(4) of Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018, a juvenile, having attained more than 16 years of age, may not be released on bail if charged with a heinous offence.” “At this stage, all the material on the record, including the above circumstantial evidence, lends support to the prosecution’s version,” the bench ruled. Earlier, the bail petitions of the accused were also rejected by the additional sessions judge, Javeria Sartaj Khan, on Aug 1 in Swat. Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2026

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