LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has upheld the life imprisonment of a man convicted of murdering his wife, recommending legal provisions for stricter accountability of husbands in cases of killings resulting from domestic violence.
Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafiq announced the verdict while dismissing the appeal of one Fayyaz Ahmad, who had been convicted under section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) by a Gujrat sessions court for the murder of his wife, Tabasum Tahira.
The convict was also ordered to pay Rs400,000 as compensation to the victim’s heirs, with an additional six-month simple imprisonment in case of default.
According to the prosecution, the convict fatally stabbed his wife at their residence in Gujrat on Feb 26, 2020. The incident was witnessed by the victim’s sister, Farah Yasmin and the couple’s daughter, Zeba Fayyaz, who testified that they found Fayyaz attacking the victim with a knife in the washroom.
Justice Rafiq termed slaying of a woman by her own husband a barbaric act, adding that such domestic tragedies often leave deep psychological imprints on the surviving family members.
Rejecting the defence’s claims of false implication and contradictions in medical and ocular evidence, the judge found the couple’s daughter’s testimony “fearless and confidence-inspiring,” noting that her statement against her own father carried significant evidentiary weight.
The judge noted that the delay in reporting the incident was natural given the shock and fear experienced by the witnesses, especially the children.
The judge observed that the knife recovered on the accused person’s lead tested positive for human blood at the Punjab Forensic Science Agency lab.
Justice Rafiq also dismissed the defence’s contention that the wounds were inconsistent with a knife attack.
The judge noted that the accused failed to substantiate his plea that he was on his job in a cement factory at the time of the murder.
Referring to the Article 129 of the Qanun-i-Shahadat Order, 1984, Justice Rafiq wrote that a court may presume facts that are likely to have occurred based on “the common course of human conduct”.
He maintained that the prosecution successfully established the guilt of the appellant beyond reasonable doubt.
He said the findings and conclusions of the trial court have been found perfect, being the result of correct and proper appraisal of evidence on record.
“Consequently, the instant criminal appeal fails and is therefore dismissed,” the judge ruled.
Before parting with the judgement, the judge discussed the burden of proof in domestic homicide cases, holding that once the prosecution establishes that the death occurred in the husband’s house under unnatural circumstances, the evidential burden shifts to the accused to explain the incident.
The judge underscored that unlike Indian Law of Evidence titled “Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023”, which explicitly presumes the husband’s culpability in cases of dowry deaths or suicides of married women, Pakistani law lacks such statutory provisions.
He urged the legislature to introduce clear legal standards “to place the burden of proof on husbands for deaths of wives occurring within their homes,” saying this would help protect women — a “vulnerable class of our society” — from continued victimisation.
Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2025
