March 30, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 10, 1428

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PESHAWAR, March 29: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a man in an honour-related murder of his mother, observing that such inhuman customs were against Islam and the law.

A single-judge bench comprising Justice Dost Mohammad Khan dismissed an appeal filed by Gul Zameen challenging his conviction by a Qazi court in Upper Dir and the sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment awarded to him.

The high court upheld the sentence and also withdrew the benefit of section 382-B of the Criminal Procedure Code extended to him by the trial court. Under the said section, the period of imprisonment of a prisoner before his conviction is also counted in his prison term.

The appellant had killed his mother, Palwasha, in a remote village of Kalkot in Upper Dir on October 2, 2003. A few months before that, he had killed a resident of the same area — Dilawar — accusing him of having illicit relations with his mother.

The case was registered against him by local police under section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code. He was tried by the additional sessions judge.

The bench observed that it was unfortunate that a man killed his mother on the pretext of honour. Justice Khan regretted that the state or the complainant party never filed revision petitions in such cases when nominal sentences were awarded to the accused by trial courts.