The Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its recent landmark judgment, in Younas Masih v. The State, authored by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, deals with appreciating evidence when a child victim is raped. The judgment is in conformity with the UN General Assembly Resolution 40/34. Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power; as well as the UN Guidelines on Justice in Matters involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime. 

The judgment refuses to disclose the identity of the child victim and refers the said victim as “M”, and by doing this, it is protecting the identity, privacy and dignity of the child victim. The child victim was ten years old, and the accused was a sweeper at the school, and he took the child victim to a secluded part of the school to commit rape.

The judgment addresses the issue of forensic evidence as it was argued by the accused that the absence of seminal material on the vaginal and anal swabs destroys the charge of penile penetration. It was held that a forensic descriptor must not be converted into a moral judgment or a conclusion about prior sexual history. The judgment explains that the absence of seminal material on the vaginal and anal swabs is important, but it is not decisive, as the offence of rape does not require proof of ejaculation nor does the law........

© The Friday Times