KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence of a convict into life term in the murder case of his wife.

The two-judge bench comprising Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto and Justice Abdul Mobeen Lakho observed that the prosecution has established its case against the appellant, but the motive behind the killing was shrouded in mystery.

A sessions court had sentenced Farhan Ahmed to death in September 2019 for killing his wife Shaista on the night of Oct 24, 2013 at their house located in the New Karachi area.

The convict through his lawyer challenged the trial court order before the high court and after hearing both sides and examining the evidence, the bench commuted the death penalty.

The bench in its judgement observed that the entire case of the prosecution was based on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of a key prosecution witness Fayyaz Nabi, father of the convict, has been corroborated by the recovery of bloodstained knife and clothes of the deceased and positive FSL report as well as the medical evidence.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2021