KARACHI: Judgment reserved in multiple murder case
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 9: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi reserved on Thursday judgment in the murder case of four women and a young man. Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 fixed Dec 15 for pronouncement of the verdict
after he heard final arguments from prosecution and defence attorneys.
The case pertained to murder of a woman, her two young daughters and a son, and their neighbour, Momal, on June 11 in their house in Surjani. The four women were also gang-raped by the band of four bandits.
Special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa prayed to the court to award capital punishment to accused Riaz Hussain as "prosecution had brought on record sufficient evidence against the accused." Defence counsel Jaffer Ali, however, argued that his client be exonerated from all charges as he was implicated in the case by the police.
Earlier, on July 15, 1999, the then judge of the ATC, Mohammad Javed Alam, had prosecuted three accused for murder of Shahnaz, her daughters and a son and their neighbour.
The ATC-5 sentenced Amjad Khan alias Amjad Lodhi to death and acquitted the third accused Rehan. However, later the Sindh High Court set aside the sentence on the appeals of convicts.
The court also acquitted accused Amjad and Rehan of the charge of possessing illegal arms. According to prosecution, a revolver and a dagger were recovered from accused Amjad and Rehan.
The prosecutor submitted that the prosecution witness Hoot Khan, father of victim Momal, was an eye-witness in the case as he is stated to have seen the accused going to the victims' house on the day of the incident.
He said Hoot Khan was the tenant of the victim family and he was living with his wife and four children in the upper portion of house. The prosecutor stated that the accused locked Hoot Khan, his wife and three children in a bathroom in their portion and took Khan's young daughter, Momal, downstairs where the accused molested the women.
He said PW Hoot Khan duly identified accused Riaz Hussain with his specific role in the incident. Besides, he contended that the accused, who was initially arrested in another case, himself, disclosed his involvement in the case. He said his confessional statement was recorded in a video tape, which the prosecution had already brought on record.
BLAST CASE: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi on Thursday adjourned the hearing of a trial against Gul Hasan alias Ali Haider, an activist of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, in Imambargah Haidery bomb blast case after deposition of prosecution witnesses, adds PPI.
LJ activist is charged with suicide bomb attack on Imambargah Hyderi, with other absconding co-accused Asif Choto, Abdul Salam, Qasim, Mufti Eid Mohammad. National Bank of Pakistan officials Ghulam Abbas, Naeem Akhtar Zaidi and Mehboob Mehar, who were injured in the blast, recorded their statements. They were cross-examined by defence counsel Mushtaq Ahmed.
