PESHAWAR: A local court has convicted a man for killing his stepmother over a domestic issue and handed down life imprisonment to him along with Rs500,000 fine to be paid to legal heirs of the deceased as compensation.

An additional sessions judge ruled that the prosecution had successfully proved the charge beyond any shadow of doubt against the accused, Arbab Umar, a resident of Warsak Road area in Peshawar, under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The court also convicted him under the Arms Act for possessing a pistol and sentenced him to three years rigorous imprisonment.

It declared that both sentences would run concurrently, while the convict would get the benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure under which the period of his detention prior to conviction would be counted in the jail term.

The FIR of the murder was registered at the Michni Gate police station on April 17, 2021, after Fauzia Bibi was taken to the hospital injured. She later died.

Assistant public prosecutor Dennis Murad argued that ahead of death, the woman told the police that she was present in her home along with her husband, Said Umar, and stepson Arbab Umar when the gun attack took place.

“The woman insisted that her husband was offering prayer whereas the accused was watching television. Her husband asked his son to turn off the television so that he could offer prayer. Her son got annoyed and started firing at them with a pistol, injuring her,” he said.

Mr Murad argued that the accused was directly named in the FIR and the evidence on record connected him with the commission of the offence.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024