PESHAWAR: District and sessions judge Ashfaque Taj here on Friday convicted the prime accused, Mujahidullah, of the murder of medical college student Asma Rani in Kohat and awarded him death sentence and Rs300,000 fine besides ordering him to pay Rs2 million compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased.

However, the convict’s brother, Sadiqullah and his friend, Shah Zeb, who were charged with abetting the crime, were acquitted due to a lack of evidence.

The court pronounced that the evidence available in support of the prosecution case stood established beyond any shadow of doubt that Mujahidullah had committed Qatl-i-Amd (intentional murder) of Asma Rani with firing in a very cruel manner.

About the acquitted accused, the court ruled that the prosecution case was full of doubts.

The trial of the accused persons was conducted inside Peshawar Central prison due to security reasons.

Peshawar court acquits two co-accused

Complainant Mohammad Irfan, a brother of the deceased, insisted that Mujahidullah, who was already married, along with his brother, Sadiqullah, had opened fire at Asma Rani near her residence on Jan 27, 2018, as she had turned down his marriage proposal.

Mujahidullah fled to the UAE and was held there when the Interpol issued the Red Notice at the request of the Pakistani government. He was brought back in March 2018.

The deceased had named Mujahidullah as her killer in a video clip, which went viral on social media causing a public outcry.

The then Supreme Court chief justice, Mian Saqib Nisar, had also taken notice of the murder and issued orders for the early arrest of the accused.

In 2018, the high court had ordered the transfer of the case from Kohat to Peshawar over an application filed by Mohammad Irfan, who claimed that the accused was member of an influential family of Kohat, so it was impossible for the petitioner and his family to pursue the case in that city.

Senior advocate Mian Abdul Fayyaz appeared for the complainant, while Shabbir Hussain Gigyani defended accused Shah Zeb. Senior public prosecutor Jehanzeb Khan appeared for the state.

About the video clip of the deceased, the court ruled: “The clip can be seen on YouTube. This court also viewed the video. The young girl is shown in tremendous grief and pain. She repeatedly called the name of the accused Mujahid when she was asked who had done this.”

It added that even though the video was not analysed by an expert, the dying declaration appeared to be true.

The judge ruled that the post–crime conduct of the main accused, Mujahid, was such that after the planned cold-blooded murder took place on Jan 27, 2018, at 1520 hours right in front of the residence of the deceased in the Kohat Development Authority (KDA), he managed to fly from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport to Jeddah the same night.

He added that the Interpol was approached by the government for the extradition of the accused, who was finally deported from Dubai and was arrested by the Kohat police.

The defence insisted that the prosecution’s case was full of doubts and the witnesses to the crime, including brothers of the deceased and her sister-in-law, had recorded contradictory statements.

It contended that the deceased’s sister-in-law accompanied her at the time of the firing and in her testimony, she didn’t name Mujahid and that his brother had declared that the attackers had covered their faces.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2021