KARACHI, June 12: A division bench of the Sindh High Court admitted to regular hearing an appeal by a man and his mother against their conviction for kidnapping and murder of a child by an anti-terrorist court.

Mehmood Ali and his mother, Chand Soof, of Quaidabad, were sentenced, respectively, to death punishment twice and two life terms for kidnapping and subsequently murdering four-year-old Tauqeer Ahmed on March 29. Tauqeer was the only son of their neighbour, Karim Khan, complainant in the case. The boy went missing on March 28, and his father received anonymous telephone calls asking him to pay Rs2.5 million for his safe return. Another call reduced the ransom to Rs1.5 million, which amount was also too big for Karim to pay. However, he recognized the voice of the caller and developed strong suspicion against Mehmood Ali.

Tauqeer’s body was found in a garbage disposal dump on March 29.

Mehmood Ali and mother Chand Soof were arrested by police, and they made a confessional statement before a judicial magistrate. The case was tried by an anti-terrorism court, which awarded capital punishment to Mehmood Ali twice under Section 365 (a) — kidnapping for ransom — and Section 302 (a) — premeditated murder — of the PPC. He was also to pay a fine of Rs200,000 or undergo five years more of rigorous imprisonment.

Chand Soof was awarded the lesser punishment of two life terms for the same offences. She was also fined Rs200,000 or, in the alternative, serve five years more in jail. The ATC also ordered the confiscation of all movable and immovable assets of the two accused.

The appellants submitted before a division bench that the whole case was based on suspicion. There was no eye-witness or other corroborative evidence and their confessional statements were obtained by torture.

An SHC appellate bench, comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and M. Mujibullah Siddiqui, admitted the appeal and ordered that notices be issued to the state.