KARACHI, May 29: A young man was sentenced to death and his mother to life in jail on Thursday by an anti-terrorism court for kidnapping and killing a minor boy of their neighbours in Landhi two months ago.
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 also ordered Mehmood Ali, 25, and his mother, Chand Soof, 55, to pay Rs200,000 each to the family of victim Tauqeer Ahmed, who was kidnapped on March 28 for ransom.
The judge sentenced the man to death for two times on two counts of kidnapping for ransom and murder. The woman was also sentenced to life term for two times on the two counts.
Mehmood Ali had kidnapped the boy while he was playing in front of his house. The man took the boy to his house, sedated him with the help of his mother and demanded Rs2.5 million from victim’s father, Shabbir Ahmed, a labour contractor, for the release of his son.
The kidnapper strangled the boy next day as he became conscious before the Landhi police picked up Mehmood Ali from his house around 3am on March 30 for interrogation after the victim’s father cast doubts on him.
Around an hour after her son was taken away by the police, the woman took the body of the victim out of her house and threw it in a nearby garbage dump.
The watchman of the vicinity, who appeared as one of nine prosecution witnesses, saw the woman going to the garbage dump with something in her hands and coming from there empty handed.
The police submitted a final charge-sheet against Mehmood and his mother on April 20 before the administrative judge of the ATCs.
The case was assigned to the ATC-3 on April 28 and the prosecution supplied the copies of the relevant documents to the accused on May 14.
The trial commenced on May 23 and special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa closed the prosecution side on May 26 after examining nine witnesses.
The court heard final arguments on May 27 and fixed Thursday for pronouncement of the verdict.
The judge also ordered the confiscation of the entire moveable and immoveable properties of the accused.
The judge awarded lesser punishment to Chand Soof for her being an elderly woman.
MEHMOODABAD CASE: An anti-terrorism court recorded on Wednesday the statement of a prosecution witness in the Mehmoodabad killing case against the chief of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and three others.
LJ chief Akram Lahori, Mohammed Azam, Attaullah and Malik Tasadduq were charged with killing six people and injuring five others in an attack on April 10, 2001, on Ali Murtaza Imambargah in Mehmoodabad.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who is holding the trial inside the juvenile jail, fixed Friday for the next hearing.
Six faithfuls were killed and five injured when they were sprayed with volleys of bullets during Maghreb prayers.
