PESHAWAR, Feb 23: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday set aside the life imprisonment awarded to two accused by a qazi court in Swat in a case of honour-related double murder.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai and Justice Tallat Qayyum Qureshi accepted the criminal appeals of Tale Zar and Mohammadzada observing that the evidence on record could not prove their involvement in the commission of the offence.

The appellants were found guilty by the zila qazi of killing a woman and her seven-year-old son Imran. The court sentenced both of them to life imprisonment with Rs50,000 fine each.

The prosecution claimed that the appellants, who were relatives of the deceased, had certain suspicions about the character of the woman.

Muhammad Iqbal, brother of the woman, lodged an FIR with the Kalam police on Sept 12, 1999. A daughter of the deceased, Zarshada, appeared as witness.

Ms Zarshada claimed she heard gunshots outside their residence and when she rushed out she saw the appellants fleeing the scene. The firing left her mother and brother dead and injured two of her relatives.

Advocate Bashir Khan Tanghi appeared for the appellants and contended that the prosecution could not prove its case. He said the witness had not seen the appellants firing at the deceased. Zarshada, he added, had only seen the appellants running away which could not prove they had committed the murder.