PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has rejected bail plea of a suspect arrested in an honour-related double murder of his sister-in-law and another person in Malakand district around three months ago.

A single-member bench consisting of Justice Mohammad Naeem Anwar observed that the petitioner, Imtiaz, the brother-in-law of the slain woman, explicitly named him in the initial report, saying he opened firing on both the deceased individuals.

The bench observed that the allegation was prima facie further substantiated by medical evidence indicating the cause of death, as well as collection of blood of both victims at the crime scene where the dead bodies were found by Levies personnel upon their arrival.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Fazal Subhan Shaheed police station, Malakand on July 26, 2024, wherein it was mentioned when Levies personnel reached the house, where the occurrence had taken place, they found bodies of a man and woman lying in cots.

FIR of occurrence was registered in Malakand on July 26

A teenage son of the deceased woman reported to Levies that his father had been serving in Saudi Arabia as a labourer.

The complainant stated that he along with his other siblings had been sleeping inside a room, when he heard some fire shots. He said when he came out of the room, he found his uncle (petitioner) firing at his mother and another person, who was also known to them.

He claimed that the firing resulted in deaths of the two persons, whereas his uncle escaped from the scene of occurrence.

The petitioner’s counsel contended that there was no impartial eye witness of the occurrence and his client had been charged in the instant case with mala fide intentions.

The assistant advocate general, Kamal Khan, appeared for state, whereas Advocate Israr Ali represented legal heirs of the deceased man. They contended that the petitioner was directly charged in the FIR for the commission of the offence and the statement of eyewitness supported the prosecution version of the case.

The bench observed that the crime occurred in broad daylight, making it difficult for the petitioner to claim a defence of misidentification, particularly since he was well-known to the complainant as his uncle.

“Considering these circumstances, the possibility of a mistaken identity is virtually eliminated at this stage. In such a situation, the direct accusation levied against the petitioner in the FIR, combined with both direct and circumstantial evidence presented, there exist reasonable grounds to suggest his prima facie involvement in the commission of the offence attracting the restrictive clause of Section 497, CrPC,” the bench ruled.

The bench also observed that the petitioner had told police that he had executed the murders on pretext of honour.

The court referred to an earlier judgement of Supreme Court wherein it had termed honour killing a genre of gender-based violence, which was not only self-destructive to the humanity and social order but it was also regarded as ‘Fasad-Fil-Arz’ (mischief on earth). The apex court had ruled it against norms of civilised culture in the society and also violation of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, October 21th, 2024