KARACHI, Jan 10 An additional district and sessions judge (south) on Saturday recorded final arguments from both sides in the murder case of a woman and reserved his judgment till January 21.

Mohammad Haroon has been charged with killing his wife, Sadia, in March 2006.

The prosecution said the accused was a gambler. It further said he used to send his wife to her parents' house to bring money. On March 10, 2006 he set her on fire in their house in Mithadar when she refused to go. The victim was shifted to hospital in a critical condition. However, she succumbed to injuries on March 12, the prosecution added.

The police arrested the man a couple of days after the incident.

A case (FIR 54/06) was registered under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Mithadar police station on the compliant of the victim's father, Mohammad Sadiq.

The prosecution produced nine witnesses in court.

In his final arguments, public prosecutor Abdul Maroof said that the accused was nominated in the FIR and his seven-year-old daughter, who was an eyewitness, said in her statement that her father had set her mother on fire.

He further submitted that the victim on her deathbed in hospital on March 11 stated that her husband had set her on fire.

He said that the police had also recovered a bottle of kerosene from the crime scene and stains of kerosene were also found on the clothes of the accused.

He contended that the prosecution had successfully proved its case and pleaded that the death penalty be awarded to the accused.

The defence counsel said that his client had been implicated in the case and the prosecution did not provide sufficient evidence in order to prove their case against the accused. The defence pleaded for the acquittal of his client.

Justice Nizar Ali Khawaja reserved his verdict after the completion of final arguments from both sides.

Afreen Baig murder case

An additional district and sessions court (south) on Saturday partly heard final arguments of the special public prosecutor in TV artiste and producer Afreen Baig's murder case and adjourned the hearing till Jan 28.

Farooq Mengal, Mohammad Bux Umrani, and his wife, Zahida, have been charged with murder in the case.

Afreen Baig was killed in her DHA residence in October 2004 allegedly by her driver, Mohammad Bux Umrani, and his wife, Zahida.

Her husband, Farooq Mengal, had allegedly masterminded the murder. Zahida was declared absconder in the case.

The prosecution said that Umrani, in his confessional statement before a judicial magistrate, had stated that he killed the woman on the inducement of Farooq Mengal. Mengal was angry with his wife and suspected that she was having an affair with her former husband.

A case (FIR 163/05) was registered under Section 302, 392, 337-F and 109/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Clifton police station.

SNF activist gets pre-arrest bail

A worker of the Sindh National Front was granted pre-arrest bail with a surety of Rs50,000 on Saturday.

A district and sessions judge (south) accepted his application.

Razzaq Bajwa, stated to be a coordinator of the party in Karachi, was booked for allegedly attacking a Sindhi newspaper's office in Clifton area.

SNF workers were blamed for the attack.

The suspect moved a pre-arrest bail application though his counsel, Naeem Qureshi, in the court and the judge pronounced the order after hearing both sides.

Murtaza Bhutto murder case

Meanwhile, an additional district and sessions judge (east) adjourned the hearing of the Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case till Jan 20 as one of the prosecution witnesses was absent.

Mir Murtuza Bhutto, Ashique Hussain Jatoi and six other workers and supporters of the PPP(SB) were killed on Sept 20, 1996 in an alleged shootout with Karachi police.