KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday slammed police for poor investigation into the so-called honour killing cases and directed the provincial government to address such issues effectively.

The SHC observed that police officers were treating such gender-based violence cases in a non-serious and arbitrary manners and courts had been left with no option, but to exonerate the accused persons for lack of evidence.

It urged the provincial authorities that advanced investigation equipment should be procured on priority, funds be made available and the resources must be utilised immediately to train investigators so that meaningful probe and collection of evidence were carried out.

A single-judge bench of the SHC headed by Justice Omar Sial also ordered the prosecutor general to review the performance of his counterparts in those cases as lapses on the part of the prosecution were evident in the present case.

Bench sets aside life term of three men convicted of murdering a couple in the name of ‘honour’

The bench issued these directives while overturning the life imprisonment handed down to three appellants by the trial court for killing a couple on the pretext of so-called honour.

Ahsan, Sohbo Jatoi and Niaz had been sentenced to life in prison by a sessions court Shikarpur last year for killing Mansoor and his alleged female friend in December 2020.

Thereafter, the convicts had filed appeals against their conviction orders before the SHC and the bench allowed the same after hearing arguments and examining the record and proceedings of the case.

The SHC in its order noted that the entire case was built on the evidence of the mother and father of the woman and male victims respectively, but both the key prosecution witnesses in their statements before the trial court had asserted that the appellants were innocent.

Although, both witnesses were declared hostile, but a feeble and non-professional cross-examination conducted by the prosecutor did not help the case of prosecution, it added.

The bench also observed that it was not the first case as many similar ones had come to the SHC in which the police had narrated the same story as police did not collect other evidence and relied on the evidence of complainant and witnesses while during trials those witnesses used to turn hostile.

It noted that another piece of evidence against the appellants was the ballistic report of the crime weapon, but the memo of the arrest said that a USB was seized from them and there was no mention of recovery of a weapon while a police officer in his statement had denied to arrest the accused persons.

“The contradictions are apparent and do not require any commentary. No credence can be given to the recovery initiated or the credibility of the witnesses. It almost seems that the police facilitated the accused,” it added.

The bench in the order also said that a number of criminal cases coming to the SHC which had arisen out of the incident of alleged honour killing and there was an immense and immediate need for the government to address that issue effectively.

“Those who kill women on the pretext of honour have the strategy chalked out perfectly. The modus operandi deployed to commit such crime is known well to all in the criminal justice system. Suffice to say that it ends with an acquittal because the investigator has done zero investigation. There is not a shred of evidence collect. Not an iota. Witnesses who are created resile at trial. Police officers in these cases treat such gender-based violence in a non-serious and arbitrary manner. Investigators must change their mindsets”, it added.

The bench further noted that as per the prosecutors, a large number of police force was engaged in operations against dacoits. Such efforts of police were deeply appreciated, but it must also be kept in mind that honour killing might have much far-reaching consequences for the society and the country at large than the dacoits of this province, it added.

It said Sindh police had some excellent investigators and their expertise should be used to investigate such crimes and advanced investigation equipment should be procured immediately.

“If all this is not done, offenders will keep going free because of lack of evidence. The evil will grow. Mere criminalisation of the offence will not help such if effective policing, investigation and prosecution are not done,” it concluded.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2025