MULTAN: The additional district and sessions’ court judge rejected the bail plea of main accused of the Qandeel murder case, Muhammad Wasim, the brother of the late model.

Wasim stated that the police with malafide intention implicated him in the case.

He said that the case would also take long time to be decided, so keeping him in jail till the decision of the case was unjustified. The case is being heard for the last two years.

“The recording of statements of witnesses is at its initial stage and as per some decisions of the superior courts I’m entitled to bail as the police did not make recovery from me,” he stated.

According to him, other accused in the case, apart from him and one more, had been released on bail while his parents, complainants in the case, had also submitted their affidavit in the court that they had no objection over his bail.

The prosecutors argued that the hearing of the case has been adjourned maximum times on the request of the defence counsels so the complainant side was not responsible for any delay in the decision of the case.

They said the accused in his statement recorded before the area magistrate under section 164 admitted his crime while results of the DNA and forensic reports also confirmed his involvement in the murder.

They said that parents of the accused had submitted their statement in the court regarding the bail to favour him so their statement has no justification. The court rejected the bail plea.

Qandeel was found murdered in her rented house in Multan on July 16, 2016. Her father alleged that she was killed by her younger brother, Waseem, in the name of honour.

Waseem, who had allegedly fled from the scene, later turned himself to the police and confessed to killing his sister at a press conference.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2018