PESHAWAR, Jan 8: A woman who has been awarded death sentence for killing her husband, has claimed that she was the mother of children of her husband due to which she could not be awarded capital punishment under the Qisas and Diyat Law.

A full bench of the Federal Shariat Court here on Wednesday directed the deputy advocate-general to file an application for conducting inquiry to ascertain whether the woman, Shehnaz, was the mother of children of the deceased.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice, Justice Fazal Ilahi Khan, Justice Dr Fida and Justice Chaudhry Ijaz, took up for preliminary hearing criminal appeals of Shehnaz and male-appellant, Aamir, who is the nephew of the deceased.   Both the appellants were sentenced to death by a trial court in Kohat on Oct 3, 2000. Their appeals were transferred to the Shariat Court by a two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court in April last, observing that as the convicts were also charged under the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979, therefore, only the Shariat Court was competent to hear their appeals.

The chairman of Voice of Prisoners, Noor Alam Khan, appeared for the appellants and argued that the woman-appellant could not be awarded death sentence as she was the mother of her husband’s children.

He argued that under the Qisas and Diyat Law an accused could not be sentenced to death for killing a person if wali (legal heir) of the deceased is a direct descendant of the offender.

The counsel claimed that the trial court erred in sentencing her to death as the wali of her deceased husband were their children who are descendants of the woman.

The deputy advocate-general, Sardar Ahmad Jan, pointed out that on record there was no evidence which could prove that she was the mother of her husband’s children.

The appellants counsel argued that the woman-appellant had stated on record that she gave birth to two children during her wedlock with her deceased husband. He argued that the appellants were falsely implicated in the case by the prosecution.

According to the prosecution, the officials of the Kohat City Police Station had received report about the absence of the deceased. The deceased’s brother, Pervaiz, told the police that his brother worked in the UAE and every year visited his family at Mall Mandhi, Kohat. He claimed that the last time when he returned he disappeared after a few days and his wife (the appellant) told his family members that he had left for the UAE.

The police claimed recovery of the body of the deceased from a well on the pointation of the male-appellant, Aamir, on Aug 11, 1996.

Later, Shehnaz recorded her confessional statement on Aug 13 and Aamir on Aug 14, 1996, admitting their guilt.

Both the appellants had retracted their confessional statements, stating that they were illiterate and the police had taken their thumb impression on some papers.