Lahore High Court Clears Husband in Gunpoint Rape Case Over Legal Divorce Technicality

The Lahore High Court has thrown out a rape-at-gunpoint case against a husband, ruling that the accused could not be prosecuted because his divorce had not legally taken effect as per the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (MFLO) 1961.

Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh dismissed the FIR registered under Section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code, holding that the marital bond between the accused and the complainant was still intact at the time of the alleged assault.

The court ruled that since the husband had revoked his talaq within the mandatory 90-day reconciliation period under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (MFLO) 1961, the divorce never became legally effective.

According to the FIR, the woman alleged that the petitioner married her in April 2024 after luring her into cohabitation, later discovering he was already married.

She claimed he divorced her on October 14, only to return three days later with an accomplice, enter her home at night, and rape her at gunpoint. The accused denied the allegations, calling the case retaliatory and insisting that he had withdrawn the divorce well within the statutory timeframe.

In its ruling, the court did not examine the merits of the alleged violence itself but focused narrowly on the legal status of the marriage on October 17, the date of the reported offence. Justice Sheikh stressed that under Section 7 of the MFLO, a talaq does not take legal effect unless the 90-day reconciliation period expires without revocation. Since the divorce was formally withdrawn, the law continued to recognize the couple as husband and wife.

Citing Supreme Court precedents, the judge reiterated that failure to complete the statutory process renders a divorce legally void, regardless of any written talaq deed. As a result, the court concluded that the essential ingredients of the offence of rape were not established on the face of the FIR.

While acknowledging that the accused’s conduct could be viewed as morally reprehensible, the court held that criminal liability under the rape law could not be sustained where the marriage was legally subsisting. On this basis, the Lahore High Court allowed the petition and struck down the FIR.

Source: Dawn News