PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has rejected bail plea of a suspect arrested on charges of killing his wife around two years ago on pretext of honour in Dir Lower.

As single-member bench of Justice Qazi Jawad Ehsanullah observed that the record revealed that the petitioner, Ajab Gul, had absconded for around two years, with no plausible explanation offered for such conduct, which was inconsistent with the gravity of the situation that had emerged in his own house.

The bench observed when the petitioner’s counsel was confronted with those circumstances, he couldn’t satisfactorily controvert the same and it prima facie indicated petitioner’s involvement in the offence.

The bench further observed that the medical report also confirmed that death of the deceased woman had occurred due to firearm injury. The bench ruled that the offence fell within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of Code of Criminal Procedure and the bench was not persuaded to allow bail to the petitioner.

The occurrence had taken place in the limits of Mayar police station in Dir Lower on Aug 18, 2023.

Resident of Dir was blamed for murder of his wife two years ago

The complainant in the FIR was the SHO of the police station, Fazal Ghafoor, who stated that they received information about killing of a woman on pretext of honour in Miskeene Dara area. The complainant said when police party reached the spot it found the body of the wife of Ajab Gul in the veranda of her house.

He stated that they received information that the suspect was doubtful about character of his deceased wife due to which he fired at her, resulting in her death.

The assistant advocate general, Rahimullah Chitrali, appeared for the state and contended that the petitioner was directly charged in the FIR for the commission of a non-bailable offence. He stated that the petitioner was charged for a heinous offence and didn’t deserve to be extended the benefit of bail.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that there was no eyewitness to the occurrence and his client was falsely implicated in the instant case. He contended that the FIR was registered after delay of many hours and police had not recovered any empties or bullets from the spot of occurrence. He added that the investigation officer had also not associated any local resident or inmate of the house during investigation.

The bench observed that it was an admitted fact that the deceased was wife of the petitioner, who suffered unnatural death by firearm inside her matrimonial home, as corroborated by recovery of blood from the crime scene.

The bench said that the FIR was registered upon arrival of local police at the spot after receiving information of the occurrence.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2025