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       LOWER DIR: The court of additional sessions judge in Samarbagh on Monday sentenced three men, including head of a seminary and his son, to life imprisonment in the rape and murder case of a seven-year-old girl in Jandol area.

       The convicted men include Maulana Ziaul Haq Haidari, his son Abu Bakar, and their bodyguard Sanaullah. The court handed down life terms, as well as additional sentences of 25 years, three years and two years, respectively, and imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on the convicts.

       The verdict comes more than a year after the tragic incident that sent shockwaves across the region. According to police and prosecution the girl had been living at an orphanage-cum-seminary in the Mandizo area of Jandol when she was reportedly assaulted and murdered.

       District prosecution office, led by DPP Rafiullah, pursued the case vigorously, while assistant public prosecutor Ubaidullah argued it in court.

       The FIR was registered at Munda police station on May 23, 2024, under sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with Section 53 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act.

       Sartaj, the victim’s father, while registering the FIR, told police that the seminary administration informed him on May 17 last year that his daughter had died and asked him to collect her body. However, he alleged that his daughter had been killed days earlier and that her body had been concealed to hide the crime.

       Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2025