KARACHI, Oct 22 A district and sessions court on Wednesday convicted two men of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy.

Mashkoor Ahmed and Faqir Mohammad were sentenced to prison terms of four and three years respectively.

The judge said in his verdict that the prosecution had produced sufficient evidence and successfully proved its case against the accused.

A medical report, a chemical examiner's report and evidence of independent witnesses had confirmed the involvement of the accused in the case, he added.

The district and sessions judge (west) also imposed a fine of Rs5,000 each and in case of non-payment of the fine each of the accused would undergo an additional two-month imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, Fahad was sexually assaulted by the accused on Dec 12, 2002 in the Jackson police limits.

The police registered a case under Sections 377 (unnatural offences) and 34 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code against the accused on the complaint of the victim at the Jackson police station and arrested the accused.

However, they were later released on bail.

The convicts were present in the courtroom when the judgment was announced and were sent to jail.

Meanwhile, a judicial magistrate (south) on Wednesday sentenced a man to one year in jail because he pleaded guilty to possessing an illegal weapon.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs500 on Saleem Shahzad and in case of non-payment, he would have to spend 15 additional days in jail.

The police on Nov 4, 2007 had taken the accused into custody for his suspicious movement in Mehmoodabad and seized an illegal weapon from him.

A case was registered against the accused under Section 13-D of the Arms Ordinance.

Child custody case

An additional district and sessions court, on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by a woman seeking the custody of her one-and-half-year-old daughter.

The petitioner, Anmool Saeed, through her counsel submitted a petition to the court of the additional district and sessions judge, VII, south, under Section 491 of the Criminal Procedure Code, stating that her daughter, Natania Farooqui, was illegally detained by her grandmother Almas Farooqui and father Mohammad Faraz Farooqui, and pleaded for the recovery of her daughter.

However, public prosecutor Abdul Mahroof opposed the petition and argued that the child was born in London and a district judge of the family division of the United Kingdom, in an order dated July 21, 2008, had handed over the custody of the child to her father. He added that the Pakistan and British judiciaries had singed an official protocol on Feb 12, 2006, in which both sides had agreed to respect the decisions of each other's courts regarding the custody of children. He requested the court to dismiss the petition.

The judge, disposing of the petition, observed that it was not maintainable.