LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Monday acquitted two men in a case of throwing acid on a transperson as the victim resiled from her earlier statement and expressed inability to identify the suspects.

The suspects – Hamza Saleem and Sohail Ahmad – had filed acquittal applications under Section 265-K of the CrPC pleading that the prosecution failed to establish its charges against them.

On the previous hearing, transperson Kinza recorded her fresh statement before the court saying the petitioners were not the suspects in her case.

ATC judge Abher Gul Khan allowed the applications and acquitted the suspects of the charge.

Racecourse police had registered a case in June on the complaint of the transperson and arrested the suspects.

As per the FIR, Kinza was waiting for a rickshaw near Basti Saidan Shah when the suspects arrived there on a motorcycle and threw acid on her.

Kinza was shifted to the Services Hospital with burns on her face and arms, where she was provided treatment and was discharged after a few hours.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2022