LAHORE: A Pakistani court has sentenced a cleric to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 200,000 on him for raping a 12-year-old girl in the country's Punjab province, a court official said on Saturday.
Additional District and Sessions Court Judge Khalid Bashir handed down the life imprisonment to Qari Attiqur Rehman on Friday for raping the minor two years ago in Toba Tek Singh district, over 200 kms from here, the official said.
He has also slapped with a fine of 200,000 Pakistani rupees (USD 1,171), he said. According to the prosecution, the victim went to the seminary of her village where Bilqis Bibi, an accomplice of Rehman, lured the girl to his chamber.
The convict raped her and left her at a deserted place where she was spotted crying by some locals who rushed her to a hospital where she recovered and revealed her ordeal to the police, the prosecution said, adding that Rehman was arrested and prosecuted.
Meanwhile, former leader of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F) Mufti Azizur Rehman, accused of raping a seminary student, has filed a post-arrest bail plea in the Lahore's district and sessions court.
He was arrested after the seminary student uploaded a video on internet. In June, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Investigations) Shariq Jamal Khan said that the cleric has confessed to his crime, saying he raped the student on the pretext of passing him in exams.