LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has acquitted a man convicted for killing a woman for marriage refusal and set aside his death penalty giving him the benefit of the doubt, ruling that even a minor doubt is sufficient to acquit an accused.

A Faisalabad sessions court had awarded death sentence to Muhammad Hussain under Section 302 (b) of Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the prosecution, the accused had shot dead Najma Asghar, who had refused to marry him.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry and Justice Sardar Ali Akbar Dogar issued judgment on the appeal filed by the convict.

The bench expressed astonishment that the postmortem examination of the deceased was conducted after a delay of seven hours and the prosecution did not provide any explanation for this delay.

The bench also questioned how the accused allegedly hid the pistol if he was arrested from the crime scene.

Furthermore, it noted that the names of both the accused and the deceased were missing from the call data record (CDR) retrieved by the prosecution.

The bench observed that even a slightest doubt is enough for acquittal and in the case in hand, several circumstances create serious doubts. it ruled that the prosecution completely failed to prove its case.

The bench allowed the appeal against the conviction and acquitted Hussain, who had been sentenced to death and fined in 2022.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2025