PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has granted bail to an accused arrested over honour-related murder of his wife after the two parties in the case reached a compromise.

A single-member bench consisting of Justice Shahid Khan accepted a petition filed by the accused, Imam Hussain, on condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs100,000 each.

The bench observed that the record furnished transpired that though section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code, dealing with ‘fasad fil arz’ (mischief on earth) was non-compoundable, however, when other grounds available to the accused prima facie made his case one of further inquiry, then even a compromise alone could be considered for grant of bail.

Petitioner’s counsel Rahimullah stated that the parties had settled the matter outside the court through a compromise and in view whereof, the complainant party had no objection if the accused/petitioner was released on bail.

The complainant, Fazal Samad, who was paternal uncle of the deceased woman, also admitted before the court that a compromise had taken place between the parties.

The legal heirs of the deceased included her mother, Nadia Bibi, and four minor children including two daughters and two sons.

Nadia Bibi submitted an affidavit that she had forgiven the accused unconditionally on behalf of her four minor grandchildren. The accused petitioner had transferred a piece of land to the four children to settle the case.

While the deceased, Ms Ruqaya, was killed on Oct 26, 2023, the FIR of the occurrence was registered on Jan 8, 2024, at Kanju police station, Swat, under section 302 and 311 of PPC.

The complainant had informed the police that his niece married the accused, Imam Hussain, in 2008. He stated that on Oct 26 they received information that the deceased had fallen down the stairs, which resulted in her death.

He stated that on Nov 20, 2023, they came to know that the accused had allegedly killed his brother Fawad after which they got suspicious and lodged a complaint with the police.

Subsequently, the body of the deceased woman was exhumed and her autopsy transpired that she was tortured to death after which the accused was charged with the honor-related murder of his wife and brother.

While a subordinate court in Swat had granted bail to the accused in the murder case of his brother, it had rejected the same in the instant case on May 30 observing that the case was that of gender-based violence.

Additional sessions judge Fazal Nasir Shah had earlier observed that the case was one of honour killing and permission to compound couldn’t be granted particularly at bail stage.

The judge had observed that the alleged place of occurrence was the very house of the accused and there was no explanation on his behalf regarding the unnatural death of the deceased. The court had observed that from the available record the accused was prima facie connected with the offence and was not entitled to bail.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2024