PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has set aside conviction and sentence of life awarded to a person by a trial court for allegedly killing his daughter for honour and also injuring her 18-month old daughter.

A bench consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah accepted an appeal filed by the convict named Sher Zada, a resident of Charsadda, and ruled that the evidence on record didn’t connect him with the commission of the offence.

The bench observed that on reappraisal of the evidence available on record it was of the view that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove guilt of the appellant through cogent and confidence inspiring direct or circumstantial evidence.

“There is no direct evidence against the appellant whereas the circumstantial evidence relied upon by the prosecution is not of the standard to warrant conviction of the appellant,” the bench ruled.

Advocates Wali Khan Afridi and Kamran Afridi appeared for the appellant and contended that he was falsely implicated in the instant case. They stated that there was no eyewitness to the occurrence.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Khanmai polcie station in Charsadda on Apr 28, 2018 under section 302, 324, 311 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The police claimed that they had received information about presence of a dead body of a female over a thoroughfare near a field and when they reached the sport they found that the deceased was killed by some unidentified persons.

They claimed that the next day on Apr 29, 2018, they recovered an 18 month old baby girl in injured condition and they came to know that she was daughter of the deceased woman.

A brother-in-law of the deceased woman named Muhammad Shabbir told the police that around seven years ago she had entered into wedlock with his brother named Usman Badshah with her free will.

He alleged that for the sake of honour the appellant had first killed his brother on Apr 22, 12018, in Punjab and had now subsequently killed his sister-in-law.

An additional sessions judge, Charsadda, had convicted the appellant on Sept 19, 2022, and had sentenced him to life imprisonment with fine of Rs400,000.

The appellant had also recorded his confessional statement, but had later on retracted it.

He had claimed in his confession that he was abroad for earning livelihood some years ago when he came to know that his relative, Usman Badshah had developed relations with his daughter who had eloped with him. He had stated that he planned killing both of them and returned to the country.

He had claimed that he had first killed his son-in-law in Punjab and after two days killed his daughter.

However, the bench ruled that the magistrate had not fulfilled legal requirements while recording the said statement.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2023