SC acquits man accused in rape case after eight years

Overturning the Lahore High Court's (LHC) verdict of sentencing a suspect to jail over rape charges, the Supreme Court (SC) acquitted him on Thursday after eight years.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa heard the case that was filed in 2010. The victim's father Bashir Ahmed had filed an application, saying that the man allegedly raped his daughter, local media reported. During the hearing today, the CJP expressed his annoyance towards Ahmed and berated him for giving a false testimony.

The chief justice said that the father's false statements would have ended up the accused with death penalty. The CJP asked why the court should not hand life sentence to Ahmed for giving a false statement. The bench said that if they take action against Ahmed's false testimony then people will say that the top court had sent a father whose girl was raped to jail.

The SC expressed its irk over the LHC's decision in awarding life sentence to the victim and ignoring evidence. The apex court then set aside LHC's verdict and acquitted the suspect.