PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has set aside acquittal of a suspect by a trial court and sentenced him to life imprisonment for killing a woman inside her house in Charsadda district over 10 years ago.

A bench consisting of Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Inamullah Khan accepted an appeal filed by Wasal Khan, the husband of the deceased woman Ms Wajahat, challenging the acquittal of the suspect, Fazal Mohammad, by an additional sessions judge on Sept 21, 2021 in Charsadda.

The bench convicted the suspect under Section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code for intentional murder of Ms Wajahat and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for life and also directed him to pay compensation to the tune of Rs500,000 to the legal heirs of the deceased.

The bench further convicted him for house trespassing under Section 449 of PPC and sentenced him to seven years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs200,000. The court ordered that both the sentences should run concurrently.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Nisatha police station in Charsadda on Sept 29, 2016.

According to the prosecution, on the night of occurrence, Ms Wajahat reported that she was sleeping along with other inmates of the house when she awoke on hearing some noise and footsteps.

She claimed that she saw three persons, all armed with firearms, whereupon she raised an alarm and tried to overpower one of them, who fired at her resulting in injuries to her.

The prosecution claimed that the suspect was subsequently overpowered and apprehended by her husband, with the assistance of co-villagers, who disclosed his name as Fazal Mohammad. He was confined in a room, whereas the other two assailants managed to escape.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2026