Islamabad Court Awards Death in Stepdaughter Rape Case
ISLAMABAD: The Express Tribune reported that a court in Islamabad has sentenced Iftikhar Ahmed Khan to death for repeatedly raping his stepdaughter over a period of about a year, an assault that resulted in the birth of a child.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs0.5 million and ordered Khan to pay Rs1 million in compensation to the victim and Rs2 million for the care and maintenance of the child born as a result of the assault.
Verdict based on testimony, medical evidence and DNA
Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Sohail, who presides over the Special Anti-Rape Court (East), convicted Khan under Section 376(1) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The court held that the victim’s testimony, medical evidence and a DNA report all supported the prosecution’s case.
The decisive evidence was a report from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency, which recorded a 99.9999996 per cent probability that Khan was the biological father of the child. The court noted that reference swabs had been collected at the agency itself in the presence of investigators, the complainant and the accused, keeping the chain of custody intact.
The court observed that the victim’s testimony remained consistent on key aspects and was corroborated by the medical evidence and the DNA findings. The evidence presented by the prosecution was credible, the judgment said.
Case history
The case was registered on February 5, 2025, at the Shahzad Town police station on the complaint of the victim’s mother, The Nation reported. According to the prosecution, Khan, who was the victim’s stepfather, raped her whenever she was alone at home. She was then aged about 19 to 21.
The abuse came to light when she discovered she was about five months pregnant. She told her mother that fear had kept her from speaking about the assault earlier. She gave birth to a baby boy on July 2, 2025, at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
The convict denied having sexual relations with the victim and claimed he had been falsely implicated. The court rejected his defence after examining the evidence.
Death sentence needs High Court confirmation
The death sentence cannot be carried out until the Islamabad High Court confirms it. The court informed Khan of his right to appeal and referred the case to the High Court for confirmation. He will remain in Adiala Jail in the meantime.
The judgment also directed that the Rs2 million for the child’s care be recovered from the convict’s assets, and that failure to pay the remaining fine would result in additional imprisonment, The News reported.
Anti-rape courts and DNA evidence
The verdict was delivered by one of the specialised anti-rape courts set up to hear gender-based violence cases, where judges develop familiarity with forensic evidence and victim testimony standards. In this case, the court weighed the DNA report alongside the victim’s consistent statement rather than relying on testimony alone.
The ruling underlines how far forensic science now carries in Pakistani courtrooms: the paternity probability figure of 99.9999996 per cent, backed by a documented chain of custody, was the evidence the defence could not shake.
For background on protections available to women in Pakistan, see 10 laws every woman in Pakistan should know. Feature Pakistan has also followed other gender-related legal cases, including the bail granted to the husband of Rawalpindi’s ADC, the remand of a suspect in the Lahore rape case of an Azeri national, and the LHC’s reprimand over delayed trials.
