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Supreme Court Commutes Death Penalty to Life Imprisonment for Sheikhupura Schoolgirl Rape Convict
The Supreme Court has commuted the death sentence of a housing colony school sweeper convicted of raping a 10-year-old student in Sheikhupura to life imprisonment, while upholding a Rs. 300,000 fine and victim compensation. Justice Salahuddin Panhwar's verdict strongly condemned the school administration for attempting to hide the crime and ordered all provincial police chiefs to step up patrolling outside educational institutions nationwide to protect female students.
ND
by News Desk
2026-06-22
Supreme Court Commutes Death Penalty to Life Imprisonment for Sheikhupura Schoolgirl Rape Convict

Detailed Report

  • Sentence Converted to Life Imprisonment: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has converted the death penalty of a man convicted of raping a 10-year-old female student into life imprisonment. Authoring the formal written verdict, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar upheld the primary conviction but commuted the capital sentence. Despite the reduction in prison terms, the apex court strictly retained the financial penalties against the convict, including a Rs. 300,000 fine (carrying an additional six-month prison term in case of non-payment) and a mandatory Rs. 100,000 compensation payment to the minor victim under the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act.

  • Rejection of Defense Technicalities: The criminal case stemmed from an incident at a housing colony school in Sheikhupura, Punjab, where the convict, working as a school sweeper, brutally assaulted the young student. In the written order, the bench threw out the defense's technical arguments regarding a three-day delay in registering the First Information Report (FIR), ruling that delay does not yield a benefit of the doubt to the accused in cases involving minors. Furthermore, the court clarified an essential forensic benchmark, ruling that the absence of semen trace data within a forensic laboratory report does not nullify verified physical injuries and medical documentation proving a sexual assault.

  • Nationwide Security and Forensic Mandates: Viewing the case as a systemic failure of institutional safeguarding, the Supreme Court issued sweeping, legally binding directives to state authorities. Asserting that protecting female students inside educational parameters and along transit routes is a fundamental responsibility of the state, the court ordered all provincial Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) and the Islamabad IGP to immediately scale up security patrolling outside all schools, colleges, and universities. Additionally, the federal and provincial governments were strongly advised to establish modernized, standardized medico-legal service infrastructure nationwide, explicitly citing the statutory framework of the Sindh Medico-Legal Act as the ideal model.
Tagged:

#SupremeCourt #SheikhupuraCase #JusticeSalahuddinPanhwar #AntiRapeAct #ChildProtection #MedicoLegalReform #SchoolSafetyPakistan #BreakingNewsPakistan
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